All About BridgesAll About Bridges

Bridge types, construction, and erection

Girder BridgeGirder Bridge

A girder bridge is the most common and most basic bridge. In modern steel girder bridges,

Example: A log across a creek

World's Longest

Ponte Costa e Silva, Brazil

Total Length 700m

Center Span 300m

the two most common girders are I-beam girders and box-girders.

Arch BridgeArch Bridge second oldest bridge type and a classic structure well suited to

the use of stone.

Arches use a curved structure which provides a high resistance to bending forces.

World's Longest

New River Gorge Bridge, U.S.A.

Total Length 924m

Truss BridgeTruss Bridge

World's Longest

Pont de Quebec

Total Length 863m

Center Span 549m

Mostly all beams in a truss bridge are straight. Trusses are comprised of many small beams that together can support a large amount of weight and span great distances.

can serve as a distraction to drivers

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StStayayed ed

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A tower is erected on a continuous girder. From these towers, cables stretch down diagonally (usually to both sides) and support the girder.

extremely strong but very flexible

World's Longest

Tatara Bridge, Japan

Total Length 1,480m

Center Span 890m

Rigid frame bridges (Rahmen Rigid frame bridges (Rahmen bridges)bridges)

a rigid frame bridge is one in which the piers and girder are one solid structure

The cross sections of the beams in a rigid frame bridge are usually I shaped or box shaped

Suspension BridgesSuspension BridgesWorld's Longest

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan

Total Length 3,911m

Center Span 1,991mvery old form

of bridge

The girder or roadway is actually hanging suspended from the main cables. The majority of the weight of the bridge and any vehicles on it are suspended from the cables. In turn the cables are held up only by the towers, there is an incredible amount of weight that the towers must be able to support.

Bridges in LiteratureBridges in Literature

Braveheart

The Battle of Stirling Bridge is depicted in the 1995 film Braveheart after the novel. The director, Mel Gibson, however, chose not to depict the bridge at all in an attempt to make it more compelling cinematically.

Bridge in MovieBridge in Movie

The golden gate bridge is an ironic structure. An engineering masterpiece. A triumph of human ingenuity and muscle over the elements. More people choose to end their lives at the Golden Gate Bridge than anywhere else in the world. The sheer number of deaths there is shocking but not altogether surprising. If one wants to commit suicide, there is an eerie logic in selecting a means that is almost always fatal and a place that is magically, mysteriously beautiful.

The Bridge is a visual and visceral journey into one of life’s greatest taboos.

Bridge DisastersBridge Disasters

Location: Stirling, Scotland

Type: Beam Cause: Overload by attackers during the Battle of

Stirling Bridge Effect: The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a shattering

defeat for the English: it showed that under certain circumstances, where the conditions were right, infantry could be superior to cavalry.

Stirling Bridge

Bridge DisastersBridge Disasters

Location: Great Yarmouth,United Kingdom Type: Suspension Bridge Cause: People crowded onto it to see a clown go

down the river in a barrel pulled by geese. The weight of people shifted as the barrel passed underneath, the suspension chains on the south side snapped and the bridge deck tipped over.

Effect: Suspension chains snapped due to overload.

Yarmouth Bridge

Bridge DisastersBridge Disasters

Location: Ashtabula,Ohio, United States Type: Wrought iron truss bridge Cause: Possible fatigue failure of cast iron

elements Effect: One or perhaps two of the bridge designers

later committed suicide. The disaster helped focus efforts to draw up standards for bridges including adequate testing and inspection.

Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster

Famous BridgeFamous Bridge

Tower Bridge

135 feet high and 200 feet wide

one of London's most recognizable symbols

Famous BridgeFamous Bridge

Eitaibashi (“Long Reign Bridge”)

sharply arched wooden bridge

one of the most famous bridges in Tokyo

Famous BridgeFamous Bridge

The RialtoBridge

the oldest bridge crossing theGrand Canal in Venice.

The stone Rialto bridge replaced a previous wooden structure

There are 2 ramps which lead up to the central portico and 2 ramps on either side

Bridges and PhysicsBridges and Physics

Compression is a force that acts to compress or shorten the thing it is acting on.

Tension is a force that acts to expand or lengthen the thing it is acting on.

A simple, everyday example of compression and tension is a spring. When we press down, or push the two ends of the spring together, we compress it. The force of compression shortens the spring. When we pull up, or pull apart the two ends, we create tension in the spring. The force of tension lengthens the spring.

Stress: different types of materials can sustain different amounts of stress – force put on the bridge when holding up an object

Strain: the force caused by stress.