The simplest and earliest types of bridges were stepping stones.

Neolithic people also built a form of boardwalk across marshes; examples of such bridges include
the Sweet Track and the Post Track in England, approximately 6000 years old.[5] Ancient people
would also have used log bridges[6] consisting of logs that fell naturally or were intentionally felled or
placed across streams. Some of the first human-made bridges with significant span were probably
intentionally felled trees.[7] Among the oldest timber bridges is the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-
Hurden bridge that crossed upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland; prehistoric timber pilings discovered to
the west of the Seedamm causeway date back to 1523 BC. The first wooden footbridge there led
across Lake Zürich; it was reconstructed several times through the late 2nd century AD, when
the Roman Empire built a 6-metre-wide (20 ft) wooden bridge to carry transport across the lake.
Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake that
was used until 1878; it was approximately 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) long and 4 metres (13 ft) wide. On
6 April 2001, a reconstruction of the original wooden footbridge was opened; it is also the longest
wooden bridge in Switzerland.

The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges part of a former network of roads,
designed to accommodate chariots, between the fort of Tiryns and town of Epidauros in
the Peloponnese, in southern Greece. Dating to the Greek Bronze Age (13th century BC), it is one of
the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. Several intact, arched stone bridges from
the Hellenistic era can be found in the Peloponnese.[8]

The greatest bridge builders of antiquity were the ancient Romans.[9] The Romans built arch bridges
and aqueducts that could stand in conditions that would damage or destroy earlier designs. Some
stand today.[10] An example is the Alcántara Bridge, built over the river Tagus, in Spain. The Romans
also used cement, which reduced the variation of strength found in natural stone. [11] One type of
cement, called pozzolana, consisted of water, lime, sand, and volcanic rock. Brick
and mortar bridges were built after the Roman era, as the technology for cement was lost (then later
rediscovered).

In India, the Arthashastra treatise by Kautilya mentions the construction of dams and
bridges.[12] A Mauryan bridge near Girnar was surveyed by James Princep.[13] The bridge was swept
away during a flood, and later repaired by Puspagupta, the chief architect of emperor Chandragupta
I.[13] The use of stronger bridges using plaited bamboo and iron chain was visible in India by about
the 4th century.[14] A number of bridges, both for military and commercial purposes, were constructed
by the Mughal administration in India.[15]

Although large bridges of wooden construction existed in China at the time of the Warring States
period, the oldest surviving stone bridge in China is the Zhaozhou Bridge, built from 595 to 605 AD
during the Sui dynasty. This bridge is also historically significant as it is the world's oldest open-
spandrel stone segmental arch bridge. European segmental arch bridges date back to at least
the Alconétar Bridge (approximately 2nd century AD), while the enormous Roman era Trajan's
Bridge (105 AD) featured open-spandrel segmental arches in wooden construction. [16]

Rope bridges, 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 16th century.

The Ashanti built bridges over streams and rivers.[17][18] They were constructed by pounding four large
forked tree trunks into the stream bed, placing beams along these forked pillars, then positioning
cross-beams that were finally covered with four to six inches of dirt.[18]

During the 18th century, there were many innovations in the design of timber bridges by Hans Ulrich
Grubenmann, Johannes Grubenmann, as well as others. The first book on bridge engineering was
written by Hubert Gautier in 1716.
A major breakthrough in bridge technology came with the erection of the Iron Bridge in Shropshire,
England in 1779. It used cast iron for the first time as arches to cross the river Severn.[19] With
the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems of wrought iron were developed for larger
bridges, but iron does 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.[20]

In Canada and the United States, numerous timber covered bridges were built in the late 1700s to
the late 1800s, reminiscent of earlier designs in Germany and Switzerland. Some covered bridges
were also built in Asia.[21] In later years, some were partly made of stone or metal but the trusses
were usually still made of wood; in the United States, there were three styles of trusses, the Queen
Post, the Burr Arch and the Town Lattice.[22] Hundreds of these structures still stand in North
America. They were brought to the attention of the general public in the 1990s by the novel, movie
and play The Bridges of Madison County.[23][24]

In 1927, welding pioneer Stefan Bryła designed the first welded road bridge in the world,
the Maurzyce Bridge which was later built across the river Słudwia at Maurzyce near Łowicz, Poland
in 1929. In 1995, the American Welding Society presented the Historic Welded Structure Award for
the bridge to Poland.[25]

Types of bridges
[edit]
Bridges can be categorized in several different ways. Common categories include the type of
structural elements used, by what they carry, whether they are fixed or movable, and by the
materials used.

Structure types
[edit]
Bridges may be classified by how the actions
of tension, compression, bending, torsion and shear are distributed through their structure. Most
bridges will employ all of these to some degree, but only a few will predominate. The separation of
forces and moments may be quite clear. In a suspension or cable-stayed bridge, 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 tru

bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley,
road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose
of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise
difficult or impossible to cross. There are many different designs of bridges, each
serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations. Designs of bridges
vary depending on factors such as the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain
where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the
funds available to build it.

The earliest bridges were likely made with fallen trees and stepping stones.
The Neolithic people built boardwalk bridges across marshland. The Arkadiko Bridge,
dating from the 13th century BC, in the Peloponnese is one of the oldest arch bridges in
existence and use.

Etymology
[edit]
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of the word bridge to an Old
English word brycg, of the same meaning.[1][2]: bridge1

The Oxford English Dictionary also notes that there is some suggestion that the word
can be traced directly back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēw-. However, they also note
that "this poses semantic problems." [3]

The origin of the word for the card game of the same name is unknown.[2]: bridge2

History
[edit]

Seasonal bridge north of Jispa in Himachal Pradesh, India

The covered bridge in West Montrose, Ontario, Canada

The Albertus L. Meyers Bridge in Allentown, Pennsylvania,

U.S., "one of the earliest surviving examples of monumental, reinforced concrete construction,"

according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.[4]

Mohammed VI Bridge in Morocco Mindaugas Bridge in

Lithuania
The simplest and earliest types of bridges were stepping stones.
Neolithic people also built a form of boardwalk across marshes; examples of such
bridges include the Sweet Track and the Post Track in England, approximately 6000
years old.[5] Ancient people would also have used log bridges[6] consisting of logs that fell
naturally or were intentionally felled or placed across streams. Some of the first human-
made bridges with significant span were probably intentionally felled trees. [7] Among the
oldest timber bridges is the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden bridge that crossed
upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland; prehistoric timber pilings discovered to the west of
the Seedamm causeway date back to 1523 BC. The first wooden footbridge there led
across Lake Zürich; it was reconstructed several times through the late 2nd century AD,
when the Roman Empire built a 6-metre-wide (20 ft) wooden bridge to carry transport
across the lake. Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new'
wooden bridge across the lake that was used until 1878; it was approximately 1,450
metres (4,760 ft) long and 4 metres (13 ft) wide. On 6 April 2001, a reconstruction of the
original wooden footbridge was opened; it is also the longest wooden bridge in
Switzerland.

The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges part of a former
network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots, between the fort of Tiryns and
town of Epidauros in the Peloponnese, in southern Greece. Dating to the Greek Bronze
Age (13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use.
Several intact, arched stone bridges from the Hellenistic era can be found in the
Peloponnese.[8]

The greatest bridge builders of antiquity were the ancient Romans.[9] The Romans built
arch bridges and aqueducts that could stand in conditions that would damage or destroy
earlier designs. Some stand today.[10] An example is the Alcántara Bridge, built over the
river Tagus, in Spain. The Romans also used cement, which reduced the variation of
strength found in natural stone.[11] One type of cement, called pozzolana, consisted of
water, lime, sand, and volcanic rock. Brick and mortar bridges were built after
the Roman era, as the technology for cement was lost (then later rediscovered).

In India, the Arthashastra treatise by Kautilya mentions the construction of dams and
bridges.[12] A Mauryan bridge near Girnar was surveyed by James Princep.[13] The bridge
was swept away during a flood, and later repaired by Puspagupta, the chief architect of
emperor Chandragupta I.[13] The use of stronger bridges using plaited bamboo and iron
chain was visible in India by about the 4th century. [14] A number of bridges, both for
military and commercial purposes, were constructed by the Mughal administration in
India.[15]

Although large bridges of wooden construction existed in China at the time of

the Warring States period, the oldest surviving stone bridge in China is the Zhaozhou
Bridge, built from 595 to 605 AD during the Sui dynasty. This bridge is also historically
significant as it is the world's oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge.
European segmental arch bridges date back to at least the Alconétar
Bridge (approximately 2nd century AD), while the enormous Roman era Trajan's
Bridge (105 AD) featured open-spandrel segmental arches in wooden construction. [16]
Rope bridges, 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 16th
century.

The Ashanti built bridges over streams and rivers.[17][18] They were constructed by
pounding four large forked tree trunks into the stream bed, placing beams along these
forked pillars, then positioning cross-beams that were finally covered with four to six
inches of dirt.[18]

During the 18th century, there were many innovations in the design of timber bridges
by Hans Ulrich Grubenmann, Johannes Grubenmann, as well as others. The first book
on bridge engineering was written by Hubert Gautier in 1716.

A major breakthrough in bridge technology came with the erection of the Iron Bridge in
Shropshire, England in 1779. It used cast iron for the first time as arches to cross
the river Severn.[19] With the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems
of wrought iron were developed for larger bridges, but iron does 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.[20]

In Canada and the United States, numerous timber covered bridges were built in the
late 1700s to the late 1800s, reminiscent of earlier designs in Germany and Switzerland.
Some covered bridges were also built in Asia.[21] In later years, some were partly made
of stone or metal but the trusses were usually still made of wood; in the United States,
there were three styles of trusses, the Queen Post, the Burr Arch and the Town
Lattice.[22] Hundreds of these structures still stand in North America. They were brought
to the attention of the general public in the 1990s by the novel, movie and play The
Bridges of Madison County.[23][24]

In 1927, welding pioneer Stefan Bryła designed the first welded road bridge in the world,
the Maurzyce Bridge which was later built across the river Słudwia at Maurzyce
near Łowicz, Poland in 1929. In 1995, the American Welding Society presented the
Historic Welded Structure Award for the bridge to Poland. [25]

Types of bridges
[edit]
Bridges can be categorized in several different ways. Common categories include the
type of structural elements used, by what they carry, whether they are fixed or movable,
and by the materials used.

Structure types
[edit]
Bridges may be classified by how the actions
of tension, compression, bending, torsion and shear are distributed through their
structure. Most bridges will employ all of these to some degree, but only a few will
predominate. The separation of forces and moments may be quite clear. In
a suspension or cable-stayed bridge, 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.

Beam bridges are horizontal beams supported at each

end by substructure units and can be either simply
supported when the beams only connect across a
single span, or continuous when the beams are
connected across two or more spans. When there are
multiple
le spans, the intermediate supports are known
as piers.. The earliest beam bridges were simple logs
that sat across streams and similar simple structures.
In modern times, beam bridges es can range from small,
wooden beams to large, steel boxes. The vertical force
on the bridge becomes a shear and flexural load on the
beam which is transferred down its length to the
substructures on either side[26] They are typically made
of steel, concrete or wood. Girder bridges and plate
girder bridges,, usually made from steel, are types of
beam bridges. Box girder bridges,, made from steel,
concrete, or both, are also beam bridges. Beam bridge
spans rarely exceed 250 feet (76 m) long, as the
Beam bridge flexural stresses increase proportionally ly to the square
of the length (and deflection increases proportionally to
the 4th power of the length).[27] However, the main span
of the Rio–Niteroi Bridge,, a box girder bridge, is 300
metres (980 ft).[citation needed]

The world's longest beam bridge is Lake Pontchartrain

Causeway in southern Louisiana in the United States,
at 23.83 miles (38.35 km), with individual spans of 56
feet (17 m).[28] Beam bridges are the simplest and
oldest type of bridge in use today,[29] and are a popular
type.[30]

A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing

bearing
superstructure is composed of a truss. This truss is a
structure of connected elements forming triangular
units. The connected elements (typically straight) may
be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes
both in response to dynamic
ynamic loads. Truss bridges are
one of the oldest types of modern bridges. The basic
types of truss bridges shown in this article have simple
designs which could be easily analyzed by nineteenth
Truss bridge and early twentieth-century
century engineers. A truss bridge is
economical
omical to construct owing to its efficient use of
materials.
 Cantilever bridges are built using cantilevers—
cantilevers
horizontal beams supported on only one end. Most
cantilever bridges use a pair of continuous spans that
extend from opposite sides of the supporting
porting piers to
meet at the center of the obstacle the bridge crosses.
Cantilever bridges are constructed using much the
same materials and techniques as beam bridges. The
difference comes in the action of the forces through the
bridge.
Some cantilever bridges
idges also have a smaller beam
Cantilever bridge connecting the two cantilevers, for extra strength.

The largest cantilever bridge is the 549-metre

metre
(1,801 ft) Quebec Bridge in Quebec, Canada.

Arch bridges have abutments at each end. The weight

of the bridge is thrust into the abutments at either side.
The earliest known arch bridges were built by the
Greeks, and include the Arkadiko Bridge.
Bridge
With the span of 220 metres (720 ft), the Solkan
Bridge over the Soča River at Solkan in Slovenia is the
second-largest
largest stone bridge in the world and the
longest railroad stone bridge. It was completed in 1905.
Its arch, which was constructed
onstructed from over 5,000 tonnes
(4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) of stone blocks in
just 18 days, is the second-largest
largest stone arch in the
world, surpassed only by the Friedensbrücke
(Syratalviadukt) in Plauen,, and the largest railroad
stone arch. The arch of the Friedensbrücke, which was
built in the same year, has the span of 90 m (295 ft)
and crosses the valley of the Syrabach River. The
Arch bridge
difference between the two is that the Solkan Bridge
was built from stone blocks, whereas the
Friedensbrücke was built from a mixture of crushed
stone and cement mortar.[31]

The world's largest arch bridge is the Chaotianmen

Bridge over the Yangtze River with a length of 1,741 m
(5,712 ft) and a span of 552 m (1,811 ft). The bridge
was opened 29 April 2009, in Chongqing,
Chongqing China.[32]
 Tied-arch bridges have an arch-shaped
shaped superstructure,
but differ from conventional arch bridges. Instead of
transferring the
he weight of the bridge and traffic loads
into thrust forces into the abutments, the ends of the
arches are restrained by tension in the bottom chord of
the structure. They are also called bowstring arches.
Tied arch bridge
Suspension bridges are suspended from cables. The
earliest suspension bridges were made of ropes or
vines covered with pieces of bamboo. In modern
bridges, the cables hang from towers that are attached
att
to caissons or cofferdams. The caissons or cofferdams
are implanted deep into the bed of the lake, river or
sea. Sub-types include the simple suspension
suspensi bridge,
the stressed ribbon bridge, the underspanned
erspanned
suspension bridge, the suspended-deckdeck suspension
bridge, and the self-anchored
anchored suspension bridge.
bridge
There is also what is sometimes called a "semi-
"semi
suspension" bridge, of which the Ferry Bridge in
Suspension bridge
Burton-upon-Trent
Trent is the only one of its kind in
Europe.[33]
The longest suspension bridge in the world is the
4,608 m (15,118 ft) 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey.

Cable-stayed bridges,, like suspension bridges, are

held up by cables. However, in a cable-stayed
stayed bridge,
less cable is required and the towers holding the
cables are proportionately higher.[34] The first known
cable-stayed bridge
idge was designed in 1784 by C. T. (or
C. J.) Löscher. [35][36]

The longest cable-stayed

stayed bridge since 2012 is the
1,104 m (3,622 ft) Russky Bridge in Vladivostok,
Vladivostok
Cable-stayed bridge Russia. [37]

A ford bridge is designed to allow the flow of water over

the way.

Ford bridge
Some Engineers sub-divide
divide 'beam' bridges into slab, beam
beam-and-slab
slab and box girder on
the basis of their cross-section.
section.[38] A slab can be solid or voided (though this is no longer
favored for inspectability reasons) while beam
beam-and-slab consists of concrete or steel
girders connected by a concrete slab.[39] A box-girder cross-section consists of a single-
cell or multi-cellular box. In recent years, integral bridge construction has also become
popular.

Fixed or movable bridges

[edit]
"Fixed link" redirects here. For other uses, see Intercontinental and transoceanic fixed
links and Link (disambiguation).

Alvis Unipower TBT (Tank Bridge Transporter) of the British

army.
Most bridges are fixed bridges, meaning they have no moving parts and stay in one
place until they fail or are demolished. Temporary bridges, such as Bailey bridges, are
designed to be assembled, taken apart, transported to a different site, and re-used.
They are important in military engineering and are also used to carry traffic while an old
bridge is being rebuilt. Movable bridges are designed to move out of the way of boats or
other kinds of traffic, which would otherwise be too tall to fit. These are generally
electrically powered.[40]

The Tank bridge transporter (TBT) has the same cross-country performance as a tank
even when fully loaded. It can deploy, drop off and load bridges independently, but it
cannot recover them.[citation needed]

Double-decked bridges
[edit]
See also: List of multi-level bridges

The double-decked George Washington Bridge, connecting

New York City and Bergen County, New Jersey, is the world's busiest bridge, carrying 106
million vehicles annually.[41]
Double-decked (or double-decker) bridges have two levels, such as the George
Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to Bergen County, New Jersey, US, as
the world's busiest bridge, carrying 102 million vehicles annually; [41][42] truss work
between the roadway levels provided stiffness to the roadways and reduced movement
of the upper level when the lower level was installed three decades after the upper
level. The Tsing Ma Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge in Hong Kong have six lanes on
their upper decks, and on their lower decks there are two lanes and a pair of tracks
for MTR metro trains. Some double-decked bridges only use one level for street traffic;
the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis reserves its lower level for automobile
and light rail traffic and its upper level for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (predominantly
students at the University of Minnesota). Likewise, in Toronto, the Prince Edward
Viaduct has five lanes of motor traffic, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks on its upper deck;
and a pair of tracks for the Bloor–Danforth subway line on its lower deck. The western
span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge also has two levels.

Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge across the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne,
completed in 1849, is an early example of a double-decked bridge. The upper level
carries a railway, and the lower level is used for road traffic. Other examples
include Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and Craigavon Bridge in Derry, Northern
Ireland. The Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö consists of a four-lane
highway on the upper level and a pair of railway tracks at the lower level. Tower
Bridge in London is different example of a double-decked bridge, with the central
section consisting of a low-level bascule span and a high-level footbridge.

Viaducts
[edit]
Main article: Viaduct
A viaduct is made up of multiple bridges connected into one longer structure. The
longest and some of the highest bridges are viaducts, such as the Lake Pontchartrain
Causeway and Millau Viaduct.

Multi-way bridge
[edit]
Main article: Multi-way bridge

The Tridge, a multi-way bridge in Midland, Michigan, U.S.

A multi-way bridge has three or more separate spans which meet near the center of the
bridge. Multi-way bridges with only three spans appear as a "T" or "Y" when viewed
from above. Multi-way bridges are extremely rare. The Tridge, Margaret Bridge,
and Zanesville Y-Bridge are examples.
Bridge types by use
[edit]
A bridge can be categorized by what it is designed to carry, such as trains, pedestrian
or road traffic (road bridge), a pipeline (Pipe bridge) or waterway for water transport or
barge traffic. An aqueduct is a bridge that carries water, resembling a viaduct, which is a
bridge that connects points of equal height. A road-rail bridge carries both road and rail
traffic. Overway is a term for a bridge that separates incompatible intersecting traffic,
especially road and rail.[43]

Some bridges accommodate other purposes, such as the tower of Nový Most Bridge
in Bratislava, which features a restaurant, or a bridge-restaurant which is a bridge built
to serve as a restaurant. Other suspension bridge towers carry transmission
antennas.[44]

Conservationists use wildlife overpasses to reduce habitat fragmentation and animal-

vehicle collisions.[45] The first animal bridges sprung up in France in the 1950s, and
these types of bridges are now used worldwide to protect both large and small
wildlife.[46][47][48]

Bridges are subject to unplanned uses as well. The areas underneath some bridges
have become makeshift shelters and homes to homeless people, and the undertimbers
of bridges all around the world are spots of prevalent graffiti. Some bridges attract
people attempting suicide, and become known as suicide bridges.[49][50]

Bridge types by material

[edit]

The Iron Bridge in Shropshire, England, completed in 1781,

the first cast iron bridge Krämerbrücke in Erfurt, Germany, a

bridge with half timbered buildings A small stone bridge
in Othonoi, Greece
The materials used to build the structure are also used to categorize bridges. Until the
end of the 18th century, bridges were made out of timber, stone and masonry. Modern
bridges are currently built in concrete, steel, fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), stainless
steel or combinations of those materials. Living bridges have been constructed of live
plants such as Ficus elastica tree roots in India[51] and wisteria vines in Japan.[52]

Bridge
Materials used
type

For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however,

Cantilever large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses
built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete.[53]

The cables are usually made of steel cables galvanised with zinc,[citation
Suspension needed] along with most of the bridge, but some bridges are still made with
steel-reinforced concrete.[54]

Stone, brick and other such materials that are strong in compression and
Arch
somewhat so in shear.

Beam bridges can use pre-stressed concrete, an inexpensive building

Beam material, which is then embedded with rebar. The resulting bridge can
resist both compression and tension forces.[55]

The triangular pieces of truss bridges are manufactured from straight and
Truss
steel bars, according to the truss bridge designs.[56]

Analysis and design

[edit]

A highway overpass over construction on Interstate

5 in Burbank, California, in 2021
Unlike buildings whose design is led by architects, bridges are usually designed by
engineers. This follows from the importance of the engineering requirements; namely
spanning the obstacle and having the durability to survive, with minimal maintenance, in
an aggressive outdoor environment.[39] Bridges are first analysed; the bending moment
and shear force distributions are calculated due to the applied loads. For this, the finite
element method is the most popular. The analysis can be one-, two-, or three-
dimensional. For the majority of bridges, a two-dimensional plate model (often with
stiffening beams) is sufficient or an upstand finite element model.[57] On completion of
the analysis, the bridge is designed to resist the applied bending moments and shear
forces, section sizes are selected with sufficient capacity to resist the stresses. Many
bridges are made of prestressed concrete which has good durability properties, either
by pre-tensioning of beams prior to installation or post-tensioning on site.

In most countries, bridges, like other structures, are designed according to Load and
Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) principles. In simple terms, this means that the load
is factored up by a factor greater than unity, while the resistance or capacity of the
structure is factored down, by a factor less than unity. The effect of the factored load
(stress, bending moment) should be less than the factored resistance to that effect.
Both of these factors allow for uncertainty and are greater when the uncertainty is
greater.

Aesthetics
[edit]

The Prins Clausbrug across the Amsterdam–Rhine

Canal in Utrecht, Netherlands The World Heritage Site of Stari

Most (Old Bridge) gives its name to the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina
 The bridge at Gatwick Airport in London, under which planes
pass
Most bridges are utilitarian in appearance, but in some cases, the appearance of the
bridge can have great importance.[58] Often, this is the case with a large bridge that
serves as an entrance to a city, or crosses over a main harbor entrance. These are
sometimes known as signature bridges. Designers of bridges in parks and along
parkways often place more importance on aesthetics, as well. Examples include the
stone-faced bridges along the Taconic State Parkway in New York.

Bridges are typically more aesthetically pleasing if they are simple in shape, the deck is
thinner in proportion to its span, the lines of the structure are continuous, and the
shapes of the structural elements reflect the forces acting on them. [59] 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 and Empress, with their attendants.

Bridge maintenance
[edit]

A highway bridge treated with high-frequency impact

treatment
The estimated life of bridges varies between 25 and 80 years depending on location
and material.[60][61]

Bridges may age hundred years with proper maintenance and rehabilitation. Bridge
maintenance consisting of a combination of structural health monitoring and testing.
This is regulated in country-specific engineer standards and includes an ongoing
monitoring every three to six months, a simple test or inspection every two to three
years and a major inspection every six to ten years. In Europe, the cost of maintenance
is considerable[38] and is higher in some countries than spending on new bridges. The
lifetime of welded steel bridges can be significantly extended by aftertreatment of the
weld transitions. This results in a potential high benefit, using existing bridges far
beyond the planned lifetime.

Bridge traffic loading

[edit]
While the response of a bridge to the applied loading is well understood, the applied
traffic loading itself is still the subject of research. [62] This is a statistical problem as
loading is highly variable, particularly for road bridges. Load Effects in bridges (stresses,
bending moments) are designed for using the principles of Load and Resistance Factor
Design. Before factoring to allow for uncertainty, the load effect is generally considered
to be the maximum characteristic value in a specified return period. Notably, in Europe,
it is the maximum value expected in 1000 years.

Bridge standards generally include a load model, deemed to represent the characteristic
maximum load to be expected in the return period. In the past, these load models were
agreed by standard drafting committees of experts but today, this situation is changing.
It is now possible to measure the components of bridge traffic load, to weigh trucks,
using weigh-in-motion (WIM) technologies. With extensive WIM databases, it is possible
to calculate the maximum expected load effect in the specified return period. This is an
active area of research, addressing issues of opposing direction lanes, [63][64] side-by-side
(same direction) lanes,[65][66] traffic growth,[67] permit/non-permit vehicles[68] and long-span
bridges (see below). Rather than repeat this complex process every time a bridge is to
be designed, standards authorities specify simplified notional load models, notably HL-
93,[69][70] intended to give the same load effects as the characteristic maximum values.
The Eurocode is an example of a standard for bridge traffic loading that was developed
in this way.[71]

Traffic loading on long span bridges

[edit]

Traffic on Forth Road Bridge in Scotland prior to its opening

to general traffic; traffic has now been moved to the Queensferry Crossing (on left)
Most bridge standards are only applicable for short and medium spans [72] - for example,
the Eurocode is only applicable for loaded lengths up to 200 m. Longer spans are dealt
with on a case-by-case basis. It is generally accepted that the intensity of load reduces
as span increases because the probability of many trucks being closely spaced and
extremely heavy reduces as the number of trucks involved increases. It is also generally
assumed that short spans are governed by a small number of trucks traveling at high
speed, with an allowance for dynamics. Longer spans on the other hand, are governed
by congested traffic and no allowance for dynamics is needed.

Calculating the loading due to congested traffic remains a challenge as there is a

paucity of data on inter-vehicle gaps, both within-lane and inter-lane, in congested
conditions. Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems provide data on inter-vehicle gaps but only
operate well in free flowing traffic conditions. Some authors have used cameras to
measure gaps and vehicle lengths in jammed situations and have inferred weights from
lengths using WIM data.[73] Others have used microsimulation to generate typical
clusters of vehicles on the bridge. [74][75][76]

Bridge vibration
[edit]
Bridges vibrate under load and this contributes, to a greater or lesser extent, to the
stresses.[39] Vibration and dynamics are generally more significant for slender structures
such as pedestrian bridges and long-span road or rail bridges. One of the most famous
examples is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that collapsed shortly after being constructed
due to excessive vibration. More recently, the Millennium Bridge in London vibrated
excessively under pedestrian loading and was closed and retrofitted with a system of
dampers. For smaller bridges, dynamics is not catastrophic but can contribute an added
amplification to the stresses due to static effects. For example, the Eurocode for bridge
loading specifies amplifications of between 10% and 70%, depending on the span, the
number of traffic lanes and the type of stress (bending moment or shear force). [77]

Vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction

[edit]
There have been many studies of the dynamic interaction between vehicles and bridges
during vehicle crossing events. Fryba[78] did pioneering work on the interaction of a
moving load and an Euler-Bernoulli beam. With increased computing power, vehicle-
bridge interaction (VBI) models have become ever more sophisticated. [79][80][81][82] The
concern is that one of the many natural frequencies associated with the vehicle will
resonate with the bridge's first natural frequency. [83] The vehicle-related frequencies
include body bounce and axle hop but there are also pseudo-frequencies associated
with the vehicle's speed of crossing[84] and there are many frequencies associated with
the surface profile.[62] Given the wide variety of heavy vehicles on road bridges, a
statistical approach has been suggested, with VBI analyses carried out for many
statically extreme loading events.[85]

Bridge failures
[edit]
See also: List of bridge failures
 Mississippi Highway 33 bridge over the Homochitto
River failed due to flood-induced erosion.
The failure of bridges is of special concern for structural engineers in trying to learn
lessons vital to bridge design, construction and maintenance.

The failure of bridges first assumed national interest in Britain during the Victorian
era when many new designs were being built, often using new materials, with some of
them failing catastrophically.

In the United States, the National Bridge Inventory tracks the structural evaluations of all
bridges, including designations such as "structurally deficient" and "functionally
obsolete".

Bridge health monitoring

[edit]
There are several methods used to monitor the condition of large structures, like
bridges. Many long-span bridges are now routinely monitored with a range of sensors,
including strain transducers, accelerometers,[86] tiltmeters, and GPS. Accelerometers
have the advantage that they are inertial, i.e., they do not require a reference point to
measure from. This is often a problem for distance or deflection measurement,
especially if the bridge is over water.[87] Crowdsourcing bridge conditions by accessing
data passively captured by cell phones, which routinely include accelerometers and
GPS sensors, has been suggested as an alternative to including sensors during bridge
construction and an augment for professional examinations. [88]

An option for structural-integrity monitoring is "non-contact monitoring", which uses

the Doppler effect (Doppler shift). A laser beam from a Laser Doppler Vibrometer is
directed at the point of interest, and the vibration amplitude and frequency are extracted
from the Doppler shift of the laser beam frequency due to the motion of the
surface.[89] The advantage of this method is that the setup time for the equipment is
faster and, unlike an accelerometer, this makes measurements possible on multiple
structures in as short a time as possible. Additionally, this method can measure specific
points on a bridge that might be difficult to access. However, vibrometers are relatively
expensive and have the disadvantage that a reference point is needed to measure from.
Snapshots in time of the external condition of a bridge can be recorded using Lidar to
aid bridge inspection.[90] This can provide measurement of the bridge geometry (to
facilitate the building of a computer model) but the accuracy is generally insufficient to
measure bridge deflections under load.

While larger modern bridges are routinely monitored electronically, smaller bridges are
generally inspected visually by trained inspectors. There is considerable research
interest in the challenge of smaller bridges as they are often remote and do not have
electrical power on site. Possible solutions are the installation of sensors on a specialist
inspection vehicle and the use of its measurements as it drives over the bridge to infer
information about the bridge condition. [91][92][93] These vehicles can be equipped with
accelerometers, gyrometers, Laser Doppler Vibrometers[94][95] and some even have the
capability to apply a resonant force to the road surface to dynamically excite the bridge
at its resonant frequency.