REPUBLIC OF BENIN

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MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
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POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL OF ABOMEY-CALAVI (EPAC)
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CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

English Works

TITLE
ARCH BRIDGES

Members Supervisor
DOVONOU Merveille Mr. OLORY Bienvenu
ERIOLA Mendel
AYADJI Darrell

Class: GC3

Academic year: 2022-2023

 TEXT : THE ARCH BRIDGES
A bridge is a structure that provides passage over obstacles such as valleys, rough terrain
or bodies of water by spanning those obstacles with natural or manmade materials. They first
begun be used in ancient times when first modern civilizations started rising in the
Mesopotamia. From that point on, knowledge, engineering and manufacture of new bridge
building materials spread beyond their borders, enabling slow but steady adoption of bridges
all across the world. We distinguish different types of bridges : Vaulted bridges, Girder bridges,
Arch bridges, Suspension bridges, and Cable-stayed bridges. In this development, we will talk
about arch bridges and given their different types and their advantages.
An arch bridge is a bridge whose main structure is composed of arches or reinforced
arches. It shaped as an upward convex curved arch to sustain the verticals loads. A simple arch
bridge works by transferring its weight and other loads partially into horizontal thrust
restrained by strong abutments at either side. There are three main types of arch bridges being
built nowadays : Deck arch bridges, Through arch bridges and Tied-arch or Bowstring arch
bridges.
- Deck arch bridges distribute the weight instead of just pushing it straights down. They
have abutments, supports on the ground at both ends, on either side of the arch for added
support.

- Through arch bridge, also knows as a trough-type arc bridge, is a bridge that is made
from materials such as steel or reinforced concrete, in which the base of an arch
structure is below the deck but the the top rises above it.

- Tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward horizontal forces of the arches
caused by tension at the arch ends to a foundation are countered by equal tension of the
total deck structure such great arches support.

The arch bridge broke at 17.61 kilograms, the truss broke at 11.23 kilograms and the
suspension at 14.86 kilograms. In conclusion, the results of this test suggest that the arch bridge
design is strongest than the others bridges. Arch bridges are one the oldest types of bridges and
have great natural strength. By example, one of the most famous arch bridge is the Pont du Gard
aqueduct built by the Romans near Nîmes, France. It has survived more than 2,000 years.
In short, the arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch,
its particular structure, the choice of materials, the play of forces between the elements ensure
its stability its durability.
 KEY WORDS
Manmade material Type of material that doesn’t occur naturally and is made by
humans. It is non-renewable in nature so it manufactured through human effort.
By example Artificial fibres, Plastics and Grasses are manmade materials.

Abutments : It is a masonry mass supporting and receiving the trusth of part of

an arch or vault. A force that serves to abut an arch or vault, a mass, as of masonry,
receiving the arch beam, truss, etc…, at each end of a bridge

Deck A deck is the surface of a bridge. A structural element of its superstructure,

it may be constructed of concret, steel, open grating, or wood. Sometimes the deck
is covered a railroad bed and track, asphalta concrete, or other form of pavement
for ease of vehicule crossing.

Thrust The lateral pressure exerted by an arch or other support in a building

Reinforced concrete Building material in which two or more materials with

different physical properties are used to impart a higher tensile strength and
ductility to a building structure.
 COMMENTS
The text we studied, talks about Arch bridges and the different types of arch bridges that exist.
From the studied text, we retain that bridge is a work of art which makes it possible to cross a
natural or artificial obstacle by passing over it. Bridge have revolutionized the movement of
goods and people over the course of civilisations. They also allow the crossing of natural or
artificial obstacles (depression, watercourse, communication channel, valley, ravine)
Bridges are distinguished from each other by the nature of the material used for their
construction, the shape of the structure, the type of obstacles to be overcome, the location and
the type of loads exerted on the bridge. There are several types of bridges : Suspension bridges,
Arch bridges, Vaulted bridges, Girder bridges.
Our development focused more closely on arch bridges. Arch bridges are one of the oldest but
among the most resistant bridges of human civilization : its shape offers an esthetic like no other
and allows it to support its own weight and different loads. The loads are transferred to the
abutment which returns them to the ground.
Diversified, there are three types: Deck arch bridges, Through arch bridges and Tied arch or
Bowstring arch bridges.
The studies carried out on the resistance between the large families of bridges show that the
arch bridge resists more than the other bridges. So we can retain that arch bridges provide a
better level of resistance. An arch bridge's aciform style offers associated unnatural strength
purpose that permits the structure to own higher levels of resistance to the bending forces that
will have the power to alter its kind. Arch bridges were designed from virtually materials : an
arch bridge is often made from stone, bricks, or nearly other natural material that has the
standard of withstanding forces of compression.