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Welcome to Bridge Engineering!

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COURSE OBJECTIVES
• to get a general overview of bridges
• to understand structural behaviour of bridge
deck systems
• to analyse and design simple bridge structures
• to gain some exposure to modern bridge
construction practice
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COURSE OBJECTIVES…
“Everything should be made as simple as
possible.
But not simpler!”
(Albert Einstein)
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1. INTRODUCTION
• What is a ‘bridge’?
• Main components of a bridge
• Classification of bridges
• Brief history of bridge development
• Bridge aesthetics
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1.1 ‘BRIDGE’?
• A ‘bridge’ is an elevated transportation
structure spanning across some obstacle (a
river, a valley, a road or a railway).
• It provides a passage for transporting
pedestrians, vehicles, pipelines, etc.
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1.1 ‘BRIDGE’…
• “Of all inventions (the alphabet and printing press alone
excepted), those inventions which abridge distance
have done the most for the civilisation of our species”.
(Macaulay)
• The ‘bridge builder’ was held in great esteem (‘pont’ 
‘pontiff’) in Europe. (The Chief Bridge Builder in Rome
was given the title “Pontifex Maximus”).
• Bridges have great importance in terms of urban,
social, cultural and economic development. They also
have major military significance.
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1.2 COMPONENTS OF A BRIDGE

• Superstructure:
• Deck slab
• Girders / trusses / arches / cables…
• Handrails, guard-stones,…

• Bearings (for deck)

• Substructure:
• Abutments
• Piers
• Foundations for abutments and piers
• Approaches, slopes, aprons,…
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1.2 COMPONENTS OF A BRIDGE

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1.3 CLASSIFICATION OF BRIDGES

• based on function
• based on material (for deck)
• based on type of superstructure
• based on superstructure support conditions
• based on relative elevation of bridge floor
• …
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1.3 CLASSIFICATION…
• based on function:
• pedestrian bridge
• highway bridge
• railway bridge
• road-cum-rail bridge
• aqueduct (canal over a river/valley)
• viaduct (rail/road bridge over a valley)
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1.3 CLASSIFICATION…
• based on material (for deck):
• timber bridge
• masonry bridge
• iron bridge
• steel bridge
• reinforced concrete bridge
• prestressed concrete bridge
• composite bridge
• FRP bridge
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1.3 CLASSIFICATION…
• based on type of superstructure:
• slab bridge
• T-beam bridge
• box-girder bridge
• truss bridge
• arch (bowstring girder) bridge
• cable-stayed bridge
• suspension bridge
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1.3 CLASSIFICATION…
• based on support conditions for
superstructure:
• simply supported bridge
• continuous bridge
• cantilever bridge
• rigid frame bridge
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1.3 CLASSIFICATION…
• based on relative elevation of bridge
floor:
• deck bridge
• through bridge
• half-through bridge
• suspended bridge
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY OF BRIDGES

• Natural bridges:
• fallen trees
• stepping stones
• rock arches
• overhanging branches, creepers

“The primitive man who felled a tree deliberately so

that it fell across a stream was the first bridge builder”.
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

90 m span natural stone arch

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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

• Primitive bridges:
• timber trestle construction (Swiss)
• timber platform suspended on ropes (India)
• rope bridge (China, Japan)
• timber cantilever bridge (India)
• pontoon bridge (Persia)

The oldest bridge still surviving is a pedestrian stone slab

bridge across the Meles River in Turkey (2800 BC).
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Timber Cantilever bridge over the river Jhelum, Srinagar

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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

• Early bridges:
• brick masonry arch bridge (Mesopotamia)
• stone masonry arch bridge (Roman, Chinese)
• stone masonry segmental arch bridges…
(middle ages, Renaissance period)

“I have left a bridge that shall remain for eternity”

(inscription in Latin on the central tower of an arch bridge at
Alcantara in Spain, built by Julius Lacer for Roman Emperor Trajan
in 98 AD)
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Ponte Fabricio
(Rome)
Spans between
the bank of the
River Tiber and
Tiber Island.
Built in 64 B.C.
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Pont-du-Gard.
Roman aqueduct built in 19 B.C. to
carry water across the Gardon Valley
to Nimes (near Remoulins, France)
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Multi-span
masonry
railway viaduct
over River
Sitter
(Switzerland)
Built 1900
years after
Pont-du-Gard,
not much
significant
advancement!
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

'Stari Most'
built in 1566
spanning the
Neretva River
(Turkey).
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

End view of 'Stari
Most'
It is recorded that the
first time the falsework
was removed, the arch
collapsed. The Sultan
ordered the builder to
be executed if he was
not successful on the
second attempt. The
builder fled before the
supporting timber was
removed, but the
bridge has stood for
over 400 years.
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Pont d'Avignon
(France)
Built in 1177-1187
across Rhone River by
Benezet and the
Freres Pontiffes.
Considered the most
famous of the
medieval chapel
bridges.
There were originally
more than 20 spans
(101-110 feet) of
which only four with
chapel now remain.
Elliptical arches.
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Pont Vecchio
(Florence)
Italian Renaissance
bridge built in 1340.
Its most important
feature is its
segmental arches
(segment of circle less
than a semi-circle),
first built in the West.
This design required
fewer piers, and hence
caused less
obstruction to
navigation than semi-
circular Roman
bridges
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1.4 BRIEF HISTORY…

Rialto Bridge
(Venice)
Another example of
Renaissance bridge
design, spanning
Grand Canal. For
many years the only
bridge joining the
two halves of the
city. Built in 1587, it
replaced a timber
bridge which
collapsed when a
crowd used it to
watch a ceremony
on the canal. Result
of a design
competition.