History And Types

of Bridges

Prepared by
Khushbu Bhatt
Parul University
Vadodara
History
• Primitive Peoples:
– Logs
– Slabs of Rocks
– Intertwined Vines or Ropes
• Roman Empire—First Great Bridge Builders
– Timber Truss Bridges
– Masonry Arch Bridges
• Europeans
– Followed HRE Until Iron and Steel Use
• Nineteenth Century—
– Modern Long Bridges
– Moveable Bridges
Rock Bridges
Wadi Rum Rock Bridge
View under Rainbow Bridge, a
massive sandstone bridge in
Natural Bridges National
Monument, Utah, includes a dried
up streambed.
"Rainbow Bridge, Utah."
Rope Bridges
Log Bridges
 LOG BRIDGE
Members of a Denver
and Salt Lake Railroad
Company (D&SL)
survey crew pose on a
log bridge over the
Colorado River in Gore
Canyon (Grand
County), Colorado.
View of a settlement in (probably) Utah; shows a log bridge, a stream, and houses.
People sit on a porch; a United States flag waves from a pole.
U.S. Army soldiers from the Ohio Engineers, building a small log
bridge over a ditch, at Fort Sheridan, Illinois
LOG BRIDGE View of hot springs site enclosed by stone and
wooden frame buildings, Hot Sulphur Springs, CO
Covered Bridges
 COVERED
BRIDGE

• Bridges. Old
covered bridge,
Jackson River,
Va.
Structure of covered bridge. Wallingford, Vermont
Covered Bridge, Glen
Canyon, Santa Cruz
County, CA
CONSTRUCTION
• Must carry own weight and weight of traffic
– Must withstand force of high winds
– Must consider effects of contraction and/or
– Expansion due to temperature changes
– Most common materials
• Wood—temporary
• Steel—for long, strong spans
• Reinforced concrete—attractive designs but difficult to work
with on large bridges
• Prestressed concrete—stronger than reinforced, cheaper
than steel
TYPES OF BRIDGES

• Fixed
• Moveable
• Other
Beam or Girder Bridges
FIXED

• Beam or Girder
– Two parallel beams w/ flooring supported by
piers
– Span can be supported by trestle
– Used for hwy over/underpasses or small
stream crossings
– Example—Covered Bridge
Cars on a suspension bridge over a river, possibly in Colorado.
enz_bridge.jpg
Millennium Bridge, London
Truss Bridges
FIXED

• Truss
– Beam bridge strengthed by trusses (structural
spts joined to form triangles with tie rods)
– Lighter than ordinary beam sections of equal
length
– Useful for longer bridges
Timber Truss Bridge
Continuous Truss Bridges
View west of an iron truss bridge crossing the Colorado River on the Denver
and Rio Grande Railroad Montrose line at Grand Junction, Colorado; people
and horses are on a sand bar.
View of the bridge crossing the White River at Meeker, CO
White Water Creek Bridge, Spanning White Water Creek,
Bernard vicinity, Dubuque County, IA
Truss Bridge

View of a trestle bridge that

crosses Arastra Gulch near
Silverton (San Juan County),
Colorado.
Jefferson Barracks Bridge
Location: Mississippi River, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
Simple Truss Bridges
FAI 24 Bridge Over the Ohio River
Paducah, Kentucky
gcdranet.homelinux.com/davehonan/ bridges/il.html Cairo
Ohio River ferry and railroad bridge, Metropolis, IL
Arch Bridges
FIXED

• Arch
– One or more arches
– Masonry, reinforced concrete or steel
– Roadway on toop of arches or suspended by
cables
– Spans can be longer than beam or truss
Aquaduct
Old stone bridge at Bull Run Battlefield. Manassas, Virginia.
Stone bridge in Rock Creek Park.
Stone bridge, Elizabeth Park, Hartford, Ct..
Old Stone Bridge, Boonton, N.J..
Stone Bridge at Bowling Green, Gallatin vicinity, Sumner County, TN
Segovia, Spain
Franklin Park, Ellicott Bridge, Emerald Necklace, Boston, MA
Pont du Gard
Arch bridge, Bellows Falls, Vt..
Bayonne Bridge, Spanning Kill Van Kull between Bayonne &
Staten Is, Bayonne, Hudson County, NJ
Kill van Kull Bridge
[Hell Gate Bridge (New York Connecting RailroadBridge), New York].
[Hell Gate Bridge (New York Connecting RailroadBridge), New York].
Steel Arch Bridge, Niagara.
http://www.brokk.com/images/jpg/sando.jpg
Sydney, Australia
Arches can also be set above the deck as on the Sydney harbour bridge
in Australia. This allows much more space beneath for ships to pass
under.
www.bardaglea.org.uk/.../ bridge-types-arch.html
Blue Water Bridges are a major international crossing over the St. Clair river at the
southern end of Lake Huron

Blue Water Bridge

Eads Bridge, St. Louis
Port Mann Bridge, Coquitlam-Surrey BC
This graceful steel arch, once the third-longest of its kind in the world, carries
the Trans-Canada highway across the Fraser River. In 2002 its capacity was
increased with the addition of an eastbound high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane,
bringing the total to five

www.balsabridge.com/ bridge-van.htm
Cantilever Bridges
FIXED

• Cantilever
• Double-ended brackets supporting a
center span
• Shore end of each cantilever firmly
anchored
• Center supported by pier
Quebec Bridge
Quebec Bridge
Quebec Bridge
Quebec Bridge
Quebec
Bridge
Quebec Bridge
 Quebec Bridge

On June 15, 1907 an inspecting engineer noted that two girders of the anchor was
misaligned by a quarter of an inch. Cooper called this a "not serious" problem. In
the inspection report in August, 1907, it was noted that the girders had moved out
alignment a bit more and "appeared bent". Although this condition was a bit more
concerning, the work continued.
 Scotland's Firth of Forth

A period museum photo shows cranes atop the massive structure. The bridge
was constructed from 1882-1890, 2.5 KM (1.5 miles) across Scotland's Firth
of Forth. Note reflection of photographer from glass frame.
http://www.pre-engineering.com/resources/forth/forthbridge.htm
http://www.brantacan.co.uk/cantilever.htm
Lewis and Clark Bridge (Longview-Rainier Bridge) across the Columbia River.
[Queensboro Bridge, Roosevelt Island, New York, N.Y.].
Astoria bridge
Suspension Bridges
FIXED
• Suspension
– Roadway hangs from vertical cables supported by
overhead cables strung between two or more towers
– Longest spans
– Costly
– Difficult to design
– Highly susceptible to winds and swaying
– Cables can be up to three feet in diameter
 Tanana River suspension bridge.

http://tapseis.anl.gov/guide/photo/Tanana_Bridge.html
Tsing Ma Bridge, Hong Kong
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Japan
Brooklyn Bridge
The 3rd Carquinez Strait Bridge will replace the original bridge that was built in 1927.
Ambassador Bridge
Ambassador Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate
Structures
When it opened in 1964, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was the
world's longest suspension span. Today, its length is surpassed
only by the Humber Bridge in England.
Verrazano
 Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsing, Tacoma, Washington, 1940
On the morning of November 7, 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge twisted violently in 42-mile-per-
hour winds and collapsed into the cold waters of the Puget Sound. The disaster -- which luckily
took no human lives -- shook the engineering community and forever changed the way bridges
were built around the world. Roadway of Tacoma Narrows Bridge twisting violently in a windstorm,
Tacoma, Washington, 1940
Cable-Stayed Bridges
FIXED

• Cable-Stayed
• Suspended by cables that run directly
down to roadway from central towers
• Less costly than suspension
• Quickly constructable
• Spans must be limited in length
Sunshine Skyway Bridge, St. Petersburg and Bradenton, Florida
Sunshine Skyway Bridge, St. Petersburg and Bradenton, Florida
Clark Bridge in Alton, IL
Clark Bridge in Alton, IL
Clark Bridge in Alton, IL
Dames Port Florida
Dames Port Florida
Dames Port Florida
Swing Bridges
MOVEABLE

• Swing
• Central span turned 90 degrees on pivot
pier placed in middle of waterway
• Double swing possible
Catalog Advertisement
Moveable Bridge
BRIDGE ACROSS SHATT-AL-ARAB, IRAQ
Detail of south truss showing truss configuration and connections
HAER, MASS,2-WIND,1-3
Detail of south truss showing truss configuration and connections
HAER, MASS,2-WIND,1-3
Coleman Bridge,
Spanning Phelps
Brook, on Windsor
Bush Road, at th,
Windsor, Berkshire
County, MA
Bascule Bridges
MOVEABLE

• Bascule
– One or two sections not supported by piers
– Balanced on one end by counterweights
– Section jackknifes up to allow passage of
ships
– Most common type of highway drawbridge
View of an elevated train crossing the Van Buren Street Railroad
Bridge which spanned the Chicago River from the Loop to the
Near West Side community area in Chicago, Illinois.
View of a bascule bridge over the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois.
 Haarlem old lifting bridge.

Lifting bridges are moveable bridges which enable boats

to pass. They vary from simple wooden designs such as
many seen in the Netherlands to large steel structures
which carry heavy roads such as the bascule bridge in
Docklands.
Erie Street Bridge, a bascule bridge, with the two leaves in raised position
Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
Erie Avenue Bridge
Newberry Bridge
Vertical Lift Bridges
MOVEABLE

• Vertical Lift
– Central span extends between two towers
– Balanced by counterweights
– Variation of this type is bridge over Shatt-al-
arab River in Iraq—Roadway sinks into water
to allow ships to pass over it
Vertical lift Baltimore (Pratt) through-truss railroad bridge
Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Leamington Lift Bridge, Scotland
Goethals Bridge, Spanning Arthur Kill from New Jersey to
Staten Isl, Staten Island, Richmond County, NY
Goethals Bridge, Spanning Arthur Kill from New Jersey to
Staten Isl, Staten Island, Richmond County, NY
GUIABA RIVER AT PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL
The vertical lift bridge that carries US-41 across the Portage Canal.
Aerial bridge, Duluth, Minn..
Aerial bridge, Duluth, Minn..
Aerial bridge, Duluth, Minn..
Bailey Bridges
OTHER

• Bailey
– Small truss bridge made in sections
– Assembled on shore
– Pushed out from shore to cover span
– Transportable to new sites
Bailey

Tank destroyer advances along

a mountain road, Italy
Pontoon Bridges
OTHER

• Pontoon
– Floats on water
– Can be disassembled and moved to new site
– Supported by pontoons or barges
The U.S. Army's Sava
River bridge is taken
apart at nightfall and
put together in the
morning
View of James River Pontoon Bridge, from south side, above Jones' Landing.
Pontoon bridges, North Anna, constructed by the 50th N.Y.V. Engineers,
below railroad bridge, where a portion of the 2nd Corps, under Gen.
Hancock crossed 23rd May, 1864
Broadway Landing, Va. Pontoon bridge across the
Appomattox
Evergreen Floating Bridge
Evergreen Bridge.
The official name of the bridge is the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge at
Evergreen Point, after a popular former governor who was in office when the
bridge opened.
Combined Bridges
[Stony Brook glen,
Shawmut Bridge,
Dansville, N.Y.].
Knie_bridge
Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway-vi.jpg
Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway-vi.jpg
Old Alton Bridge
Name that Bridge
Give the type for each.