Information AboutBridge |
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A bridge is a structure built to Span a Gorge , Valley , Road , Railroad Track , River , body of Water , or any other physical obstacle. Designs may be built higher than otherwise needed in order to allow other traffic (particularly ship traffic) beneath. The purpose of a bridge is to allow people travelling or cargo being transported easier passage by providing a more uniform, and more easily navigable route than what would otherwise be an uneven or impossible path. History '' of Sertã was actually built during the Philippine Dynasty (1580-1640).]] The first bridges were spans made of wooden Logs or Plank s and eventually Stones , using a simple support and crossbeam arrangement. The Arch was first used by the Roman Empire for bridges and Aqueduct s, some of which still stand today. The Romans also had Cement , which reduced the variation of strength found in natural stone. Brick and Mortar bridges were built after the Roman era, as the technology for cement was lost then later rediscovered. Rope Bridge s, a simple type of suspension bridge, were used by the Inca civilization in the Andes mountains of South America , just prior to European colonization in the 1500s. During the 18th century there were many innovations in the Design of Timber bridges by Hans Ulrich , Johannes Grubenmann , and others. The first engineering book on building bridges was written by Hubert Gautier in 1716. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, Truss systems of Wrought Iron were developed for larger bridges, but Iron did not have the Tensile strength to support large Loads . With the advent of Steel , which has a high tensile strength, much larger bridges were built, many using the ideas of Gustave Eiffel . Etymology The Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of the word ''bridge'' to an Old English word ''brycg'', of the same meaning, derived from a hypothetical Proto-Germanic root ''brugjō''. There are Cognate s in other Germanic Languages (for instance ''Brücke'' in German , ''brug'' in Dutch or ''bro'' in Danish and Swedish ). Types of bridges - a Suspension Bridge , connects the city of San Francisco and the south-facing Marin County . Carries 6 lanes of U.S. Route 101/CA 1, pedestrians and bicycles]] There are four main types of bridges: beam bridges, cantilever bridges, arch bridges and suspension bridges. By use A bridge is usually designed for Train s, Pedestrian or Road traffic, a Pipeline or waterway for water transport or barge traffic. In some cases there may be restrictions in use. For example, it may be a bridge carrying a Highway and forbidden for Pedestrian s and Bicycles , or a pedestrian bridge, possibly also for bicycles. An Aqueduct is a bridge that carries water, resembling a Viaduct . Decorative and ceremonial bridges To create a beautiful image, some bridges are built much taller than necessary. This type, often found in east-asian style gardens, is called a Moon Bridge , evoking a rising full moon. Other garden bridges may cross only a dry bed of stream washed pebbles, intended only to convey an impression of a stream. Often in palaces a bridge will be built over an artificial waterway as symbolic of a passage to an important place or state of mind. A set of five bridges cross a sinuous waterway in an important courtyard of the Forbidden City in Beijing , China . The central bridge was reserved exclusively for the use of the Emperor, Empress, and their attendants. Index to types of bridges and bridge related topics Image:NagasakiMeganebashi.jpg| Image:Pont_du_gard.jpg| Image:PontBailey800px.jpg| Image:UniversityBridge-1Clip.jpg| Image:Small footbridge.jpg| Image:Concrete box girder bridge.JPG| Image:ThreeTwrBrCenter.jpg| Image:CaissonSchematic.jpg| Image:ForthBridgeEdinburgh.jpg| Image:Puente del Alamillo.jpg| Image:Tarr steps clapper bridge.jpg| Image:Australia sydney-404.jpg| Image:Guilford vermont covered bridge 20040820.jpg| Image:CurlingBridgeClip.jpg| Image:Fort ticonderoga drawbridge to demilune.jpg| Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png| Image:Hoernbruecke.jpg| Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png| Image:IRBSideViewClip.jpg| Image:JetwayAtVancouverBC.jpg| Image:Guilford vermont bridge covered bridge interior 20040820.jpg| Image:BNSFBridgeClip.jpg| Image:Vallorcine footpath bridge 2003-12-13.jpg| Image:SFTGMoonBridge.jpg| Image:PlateGirderUnderTracks.jpg| Image:ArmyPontoonBr.jpg| Image:Uppsala Ultunabron02 2005-06-16.jpg| (Thrust bridge) Image:ProposedSFOBBEasternSpan.jpg| Image:SegmentalBridgeFtLauderdale.jpg| Image:WinnepegBridge.jpg| Image:CapilanoBridge.jpg| Image:StepStoneBridge.jpg| Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png| Image:BridgeSubmerging4.jpg| Image:suspension.bridge.bristol.arp.750pix.jpg| Image:Railway swing bridge.jpg| Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png| Image:Millenium_bridge_close.jpg| Image:Paying Toll on passing a Bridge From a Painted Window in the Cathedral of Tournay Fifteenth Century.png| Image:Newport.transporter.750pix.jpg| Image:AlhambraTrestle.jpg| Image:Eastbound_over_SCB.jpg| Image:LittleManateeRiver.jpg| Image:Conwy Castle 2.jpg| Image:Toronto-bloorviaduct.jpg| Image:Grammene-vierendeelbridge 20030618.jpg| Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png| Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png| Bridge structural and evolutionary taxonomy Bridges may be classified by how the four forces of Tension , Compression , Bending and Shear are distributed through their structure. Most bridges will employ all of the principle forces to some degree, but only a few will predominate. The separation of forces may be quite clear. In a suspension or cable-stayed span, the elements in tension are distinct in shape and placement. In other cases the forces may be distributed among a large number of members, as in a truss, or not clearly discernible to a casual observer as in a box beam. Bridges can also be classified by their lineage, which is shown as the vertical axis on the diagram to the right. Efficiency A bridge's ''structural efficiency'' may be considered to be the ratio of load carried to bridge weight, given a specific set of material types. In one common challenge young students are to be divided into groups of two or three and then to be given a fixed quantity of wood sticks, a specific distance to span, and a given glue, and then to construct a bridge that will be tested to destruction by the progressive addition of load at the center of the span. The bridge taking the greatest load is by this test the most ''structurally efficient''. A more refined measure for this exercise is to weigh the completed bridge rather than measure against a fixed quantity of materials provided, a test that emphasizes economy of materials and efficient glue joints. A bridge's ''economic efficiency'' will be site and traffic dependent, the ratio of savings by having a bridge (instead of, for example, a ferry, or a longer road route) compared to its cost. For a given site, kind of bridge employed and the materials used determine the total cost, a lifetime cost composed of materials, labor, machinery, engineering, cost of money, maintenance, refurbishment, risk potential, and ultimately, demolition and associated disposal, recycling, and reuse. Bridges employing only compression are relatively inefficient structurally, but may be highly cost efficient where suitable materials are available near the site. For medium spans, trusses or box beams are usually most economical, while in some cases, the appearance of the bridge may be more important than its cost efficiency. The longest spans usually require suspension bridges. Notable bridges
Catastrophic collapses See also
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