Bridges. Bridges have come a long way since ancient times, when people used logs or weaved vines to cross streams. In fact, they have become an art form. The most common types of modern bridges include: beam, truss, arch, cantilever, cable-stay and suspension. A beam bridge, the simplest type of bridge, is made of long beams of wood, metal or concrete that are supported at each end by piers. In a truss bridge, the beams are arranged in a lattice pattern. Many railroad bridges are truss bridges. Arch bridges feature roads built on top of arch curves. Arch bridges are made of steel, concrete or masonry.
Suspension bridges are usually longer than other types of bridges. Cable-stayed bridges look a lot like suspension bridges, but the cables are attached directly to supporting towers and are secured to the roadway. Fact Monster/Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. More on Bridges from Fact Monster: How to Build a Bridge. Bridge Basics - A Spotter's Guide to Bridge Design. Bridge Basics Because of the wide range of structural possibilities, this Spotter's Guide shows only the most common fixed (non-movable) bridge types. Other types are listed in the Bridge Terminology page. The drawings are not to scale. Additional related info is found on the other Terminology pages which are linked to the left.
The four main factors are used in describing a bridge. Span (simple, continuous, cantilever), material (stone, concrete, metal, etc.), placement of the travel surface in relation to the structure (deck, pony, through), form (beam, arch, truss, etc.). The three basic types of spans are shown below. Examples of the three common travel surface configurations are shown in the Truss type drawings below.
Beam and Girder types Simple deck beam bridges are usually metal or reinforced concrete. One method of increasing a girder's load capacity while minimizing its web depth is to add haunches at the supported ends. Arch types There are several ways to classify arch bridges. Types of Bridges. As of July 1, 2013 ThinkQuest has been discontinued. We would like to thank everyone for being a part of the ThinkQuest global community: Students - For your limitless creativity and innovation, which inspires us all.
Teachers - For your passion in guiding students on their quest. Partners - For your unwavering support and evangelism. Parents - For supporting the use of technology not only as an instrument of learning, but as a means of creating knowledge. We encourage everyone to continue to “Think, Create and Collaborate,” unleashing the power of technology to teach, share, and inspire. Best wishes, The Oracle Education Foundation. Types of Bridges — Knoji. Types of bridges. Bridge types. beam bridge. Girder bridge. Cantilever bridge. arch bridge. Suspension bridge. cable stay bridge. Bascule bridge. draw bridge. largest arch bridge in the world.
Sydney Harbour Bridge. Largest beam bridge in the world. A bridge is a structure that links two areas together that are divided by some type of obstacle such as water or a steep valley. Bridges have been built around the world for centuries, with some places still sporting ancient bridges from Roman times. A bridge can be anything from a plank of wood across a stream to a large concrete construction miles long. Through the ages bridges have been built from all types of materials from rope, wood, stone, brick, concrete and various metals. The most common types of bridge come from five general styles of design, they are the arch, the beam,the bascule, the cantilever and the suspension. Image courtesy of noodlesnacks cc-by-sa-3.0 wikimedia commons. (harbourbridge.com.au) (towerbridge.org.uk) The Different Types of Bridges. As of July 1, 2013 ThinkQuest has been discontinued. We would like to thank everyone for being a part of the ThinkQuest global community: Students - For your limitless creativity and innovation, which inspires us all.
Teachers - For your passion in guiding students on their quest. Partners - For your unwavering support and evangelism. Parents - For supporting the use of technology not only as an instrument of learning, but as a means of creating knowledge. We encourage everyone to continue to “Think, Create and Collaborate,” unleashing the power of technology to teach, share, and inspire. Best wishes, The Oracle Education Foundation. How Bridges Work" We are a species of bridge builders. Since time out of mind, humans have engineered structures to surmount obstacles, such as, say, Jiaozhou Bay. The body of water is now home to a 26.4-mile (42.5-kilometer) bridge that links the busy Chinese port city of Quingdao to the Chinese suburb of Huangdou.
We've tamed steel, stone, lumber and even living vegetation, all in an effort to reach the places, people and things we desire. Although the concept itself is as simple as felling a tree across a creek, bridge design and construction entails serious ingenuity. Artists, architects and engineers pour vast resources into bridge construction and, in doing so, reshape the very environment in which we live.
As a result, we inhabit a planet of bridges, some as ancient as Greece's 3,000-year-old Arkadiko bridge or as unchanged as India's 500-year-old Meghalaya living bridges, which are coaxed into existence from growing tree roots (more on that later). First up, let's get right down to the basics. BUILDING BIG: Bridge Basics. There are more than half a million bridges in the United States, and you rely on them every day to cross obstacles like streams, valleys, and railroad tracks.
But do you know how they work? Or why some bridges are curved while others are straight? Engineers must consider many things -- like the distance to be spanned and the types of materials available -- before determining the size, shape, and overall look of a bridge. Since ancient times, engineers have designed three major types of bridges to withstand all forces of nature. The truss bridge... consists of an assembly of triangles. Truss bridges are commonly made from a series of straight, steel bars.
Check out the forces that act on truss bridges! Now that you've mastered the bridge basics, test your bridge-building skills in the Bridge Challenge! Bridges. Types Of Bridges - Home. The Physics of Bridge Design Every time you cross a bridge, you are seeing physics in use. You may be using the physics of a bridge itself when you commute to and from work each morning and evening. You may be using the physics of a bridge when you travel on a vacation or a visit to relatives. You may be using the physics of a bridge even when you travel to the grocery store. Below is the download link to the Bridge Building game.
The Bridge Building Game.