Chapter three

Bridges and Their Design

History
 Bridges have been used since the
dawn of humankind
 Stone bridges became popular in the
Roman era
 In the 19th century, mathematics and
physics became applied to design
What is a Girder Bridge?
 Girder bridges are among the most
common and most basic bridges (for
example, a tree spanning a creek).
 Girders are heavily relied upon to
provide strength and stability to these
bridges.
 There are two common types of
girders:
I-Beam Girders
Box Girders
I-Beam Girders
 I-beam girders get
their name simply by
their design.
 Consists of one vertical
plate (“the web”) and
two horizontal plates
(“flanges”).
 I-beam girders are
used for typically most
small bridges without
any curves in them.
Box Girders
 Box girders are similar to
I-beam girders except for
the fact that they take on
the shape of a box.
 They consist of two
“webs” and two “flanges”
to make the shape of a
box.
 Unlike I-beams, box
girders are used to span
longer distances and in
instances where the
bridge must curve for
better stability.
Advantages…
I-Beam Girders Box Girders
 Simple design  Increased stability
 Works well with  Increased
most applications resistance
 Easy fabrication  Used for longer
bridges with curves
Disadvantages…
I-Beam Girders Box Girders
 Cannot be used on  More difficult to
bridges with curves fabricate than I-
(subject to torque) beams
 Cannot span long  More costly
distances
Other types of Girder Bridges
 Rolled Steel Girder Bridge: made of I-beams that are
rolled into that shape at a steel mill. These are useful
for spans between 10 meters and 30 meters.
 Plate Girder Bridge: Made out of flat steel sections
that are later welded or fabricated into an I-beam
shape. Useful for spans between 10 meters to over
100 meters.
 Concrete Girder Bridge: Made of concrete girders in
an I-beam shape.
Examples of Girder Bridges

 To the left: The top bridge is a plate girder bridge

while the bottom is a concrete girder bridge.
 To the right: A box girder bridge.
Coronado Bridge

 Opened August 3, 1969 to connect San Diego with

the island of Coronado.
 2.12 miles (11,179-feet) long
 Approximately 200 feet tall
 Traffic ascends at a 4.67 percent grade and curves
80 degrees.
 Supported by a box girder giving it support.
Truss Bridge
 Truss bridges are a type of
beam bridge made up of
many small beams
attached together in
triangular configuration to
support a large amount of
weight and span great
distances.
 They function by
compression and tension
forces and not by bending
forces.
 They are identified
according to the way the
chords are arranged.
How Truss Bridges Work
 A truss is an  Trusses must be stable,
interconnected framework and not able freely in any
of beams designed to hold direction in order for them
something up. to work.
 Trusses don’t bend, they  The beams have to be
get pulled apart and placed carefully in the
pushed together. right angles and in equal
 However once the weight distances away from each
is increased the bridge will other so they can
stag in the middle. This is distribute the weight
due to the individual equally.
beams expanding and  They are usually
contracting due to the supported at the ends by
weight. abutments and sometimes
in the middle by piers.
 Examples or Truss Bridges
This is the ASB Bridge located in
Jackson County, Missouri

This is the Beaver Railroad Bridge

located in Carroll County,
Arkansas
Arch bridge
 Arch bridges are
one of the oldest
types of bridges
and have great
natural strength.
 Arch bridges
consist of
compression and
tension.
Compression
 Arch bridges are continuously under
compression. The force of
compression is pushed along the
curve of the arch toward abutments.
Tension
 The natural curve  The greater the
of the arch and its degree of
ability to dissipate curvature (the
the force outward larger the
greatly reduces the semicircle of the
effects of tension arch), the greater
on the underside of the effects of
the arch. tension on the
underside.
Suspension Bridges
 Suspension bridges in their simplest form
were originally made from rope and
wood.
 Modern suspension bridges use a box
section roadway supported by high
tensile strength cables. The development
of metals brought the use of linked iron
bars and chains.
 Light, and strong, suspension bridges can
span distances from 2,000 to 7,000 feet
far longer than any other kind of bridge.
 They are ideal for covering busy
waterways.
 This type of bridge is the only practical
type suitable for very long spans or
when it would be hazardous to maritime
traffic to add central supports.
 A typical suspension bridge is a
continuous girder with one or more
towers erected above piers in the middle
of the span.
 The girder itself it usually a truss or box
girder though in shorter spans, plate
girders are not uncommon.
 At both ends of the bridge large
anchors or counter weights are
placed to hold the ends of the cables.
 The main cables are stretched from
one anchor over the tops of the
towers and attached to the opposite
anchor.
 The cables pass over a special
structure known as a saddle.
 The saddle allows the cables to slide
as loads pull from one side or the
other and to smoothly transfer the
load from the cables to the tower.
World's Longest Suspension Bridge

 Akashi Kaikyo
Bridge, Japan
 Total Length :
3,911m
 Center Span :
1,991m
Cantilever Bridges
 To solve the problem of increasing the span
distance, other alternatives to beam and
arch bridges included suspension and
cantilever bridges. 
 Cantilever bridges are a modified form of
beam bridge, with the support being placed
not at the end, but in the middle of the span.
 A cantilever is a structure or beam that is
unsupported at one end but supported at the
other, like diving boards. 
 This configuration made longer spans
possible and wider clearance beneath. 
 A simple cantilever span is formed by
two cantilever arms extending from
opposite sides of the obstacle to be
crossed, meeting at the center.
 In a common variant, the suspended
span, the cantilever arms do not meet in
the center; instead, they support a
central truss bridge which rests on the
ends of the cantilever arms.
 The suspended span may be built off-
site and lifted into place, or constructed
in place using special traveling supports.
 Forth Railway Bridge
 The Forth Railway Bridge (or
Firth of Forth Bridge) is made of
a pair of cantilever arms that
extend out from two main
towers.
 The beams are supported by
diagonal steel tubes projecting
from the top and bottom of the
towers.
 These spans support a central
suspended span. Some structural
members of the bridge are as
large as 12 feet in diameter.
Movable Bridges

• They span waterways

• Closed bridge to carry traffic
•Open to allow marine traffic to travel
under
• Usually powered by electric motors
•In the past they were powered by
steam engines
• There are three main types:
1.Bascule
2.Vertical lift
3. Swing
Bascule Bridge or Drawbridge

•Used for short distances

•Have two movable spans
the rise upward, opening
in the middle
•When open the weight is
supported by the
stationary section of the
bridge
Vertical-lift Bridge

 Used for longer distances

 Straight bridge, held between two towers
 Lifted by steel ropes, attached to counterweights
-as the counterweights go down the bridge goes
up and vise-versa.
 Operate in an elevator like fashion
Swing Bridges
 Mounted on a central pier
 The central pier allows the bridge to rotate to
the side
 Uncommonly used because the central pier is
located in the area where boats like to travel
                                     
                

 A cable stayed bridge is a bridge with

one or more pillars. They are similar to
suspension bridges but defer in the way
the cables are connected to the towers.
The two types of cable-stayed bridges

 
are parallel attachment design and radial Parallel Attachment Design
attachment design. In a parallel
                                   
attachment design the cables are
                
attached at different heights along the
tower and are parallel to one another
and in a radial attachment design the
cables are attached at a single point at
the top of the tower and on several
places on the road.
Radial Attachment Design
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