#2 Essay

Planning for bridge construction is needed because it has a huge impact on life of people.
Economical, technical and scientific dimensions in designing of bridge must be considered. A
bridge’s lifespan extends into the long run, requiring careful planning in every aspect of its
design and construction. In designing of bridges, there are four stages or process that must be
considered, the conceptual design, preliminary design, detailed design and construction design.
In the conceptual design, a systematic understanding of construction process, long term
maintenance issues, and environmental impacts are vital to the provision of value-added concept
design. We as future civil engineers must first visualize and imagine the bridge in order to
determine its function, performance and the constraints that we may encounter in the future or
during the construction.
The preliminary design stage is the most important phase of a bridge and other structure
design because it is the basis for the final output of the design. During preliminary design, major
emphasis is upon civil, mechanical and architectural design. All the required site investigations,
including soil analysis, topography, etc. are made before completing this stage.
In order to start the construction of the bridge, it should undergo first to the next stage of
design process called detailed design stage. The analysis to each member of the bridge and to the
whole structure is applied. Every part should be visualized first by the designer, analyzed,
sketched, and checked for feasibility and then it should be changed if necessary.
During the last stage of design which is the construction design, it provides a step by step
method of designing a bridge. In this stage, milestones are identified at the end of the detailed
design stage, where formal design presentations and reviews are conducted, and client
representatives are given the opportunity to comment on the design and engineering plans prior
to start the construction.