INTRODUCTION

TO BRIDGE
ENGINEERING
BRIDGE
A structure spanning physical
obstacles and providing passage
over body of water, valley or
road
Typically made of:
 Concrete
 Steel
 Wood

The type of bridge that’s built

depends on the specific physical
and design scope requirements
PARTS OF BRIDGE
Superstructure
 represents the portion of a bridge
above the bearings
 floor beams, stringers, trusses, and
bracings
 In suspension and cable-stayed
bridges, components such as
suspension cables, hangers, stays,
towers, bridge deck, and the Substructure
supporting structure
abutments, piers, wing walls,
Bearing or retaining walls, and
 A bridge bearing is a component
foundation structures like
of a bridge transmitting the loads columns and piles, drilled
received from the deck on to the shafts that made of wood,
substructure masonry, stone, concrete, and
steel.
SUPERSTRUCTURE
 CONCRETE DECK
 considered as the road or the
rail surface of the bridge.
 Can be made of concrete and
also from metal.
 These include travel or
walking paths, drainage
systems, curbs, expansion
components, sidewalks and
approach slabs
SUPERSTRUCTURE
 Expansion Joint
 gap between structural
elements that allows these
components to expand and
contract without running into
each other and causing
disfiguration of the structural
components
SUPERSTRUCTURE
 Interior Diaphragm
 gap between structural
elements that allows these
components to expand and
contract without running into
each other and causing
disfiguration of the structural
components
 It is needed for lateral
stability during erection and
for resisting and transferring
earthquake loads.
SUPERSTRUCTURE
 Girder
 Girders joins all the pile caps
together by extending over
them
 Girders are also referred to as
beams, and give support to
the deck.
 This can be a single span, or
even multiple spans joining
all the bents, dependent on
the length of the bridge.
SUBSTRUCTURE
 Abutment
 refers to the substructure at the ends of
a bridge span or dam whereon the
structure's superstructure rests or
contacts
 Pier
 Type of column w/c are between 2
abutments (Bridges with more than 1
span)
 Extend to the ground below or into the
water. It is used to support bridge
superstructure and transfer the loads to
the foundation.
SUBSTRUCTURE
 Foundation
 are the 'bridges' or links between
the bridge and the ground
 If a foundation doesn't work for some
reason - if the ground gives way,
settles, consolidates or crumbles - then
the whole bridge may fail. So
foundations are very important even
though they are largely unseen.
 There are really only two types of
bridge foundations - although each
has many variations - 'spread'
foundations and 'piled' foundations.
SUBSTRUCTURE
 Spread Foundations
 The loads, the forces, from the bridge
are spread over an area large enough
for the ground to bear them.
 The principle of a spread foundation
applies if you were ever unfortunate
enough to find yourself caught in
quicksand. The best advice is not to
struggle but to lie flat and still on the
surface to try to spread your weight.
SUBSTRUCTURE
 Piles Foundations
 Piles are long slender columns in the
ground that transmit the loads to lower
depths where they can be carried.
 The choice of pile depends on the
ground conditions and soil strata.
TYPES OF BRIDGE
 Reinforced Concrete Deck Girder Bridge
Material Type (Concrete) (RCDG)
 Reinforced concrete girders used as main
support of the deck slab
 - typically ranging from 10m - 30m

 Flat Slab  Pre-stressed Concrete Girder Bridge

 Reinforced concrete slab extending in two (PSCG)
directions and supported directly by concrete  Reinforced concrete girder with pre-stressing
columns tendons
 typically ranging from 4m - 12m  Span lengths - up to 40m and 50m for modified
I-girders
TYPES OF BRIDGE
 Arch Bridge
Material Type (Steel)  A curved structural member spanning an opening
serving as a support for the roadway loads

 Steel Truss Bridge

 typically ranging from 40m – 130m
TYPES OF BRIDGE
(According to System of Design)
Simple Span
Continuous Span
Cable-stayed Bridge

Suspension Bridge