Bridge structure carrying a pathway or roadway over a depression or obstacle

Any structure having an opening not less than 6100mm(210ft) that forms part of a highway
or that is located over or under a highway (according to AASHTO)

AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

PREHISTORIC
o Bridges were simply logs or bamboo lay over a stream
o Cannot cross over a wide river
ROMAN PERIOD (70BC - 476AD)
Roman discovered natural cement. Pozzolana is a loosely coherent volcanic sand found
in Pozzoli near Naples. When mixed with lime, hydraulic cement is formed.
Builders of Roman Empire built mostly stone arch bridges. Wood was scarce and had to
be used economically.
8 stone arch bridges were built. 6 still remain in Rome today.
MIDDLE AGES (500AD 1500AD)
The bridge building and cement technology was lost after the fall of Roman Empire. Not
much activity for about 1,000 years.
Bridge were used to control traffic as means of defense
Heavy stone structure with narrow openings
The bridge knowledge had to be re-learned about 1100 1500 AD
INCA CIVILIZATION (PERU, 1438 1533)
o Rope Bridge was developed around 1400 AD.
Renaissance (1400 1600)
Truss was first invented but not widely used until later period.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1700 1900)
Age of Reason
Development of steam engines to replace manual labor
Iron was first used in bridges in 1750
Perfect masonry arch was developed
Wood truss bridge was the first kind of truss structure
Several types of trussed were developed

Steel started to replace wrought iron in the late 1880s

Steel is stronger and more ductile, which allows engineers to build a bigger bridge
Suspension bridge was invented just before the 20th century
TWENTIETH CENTURY (1900 2000)
o Iron was completely replaced by steel
o Steel truss bridge was widely used in the early period
o Prestressed Concrete was developed by Fressinet in 1940s
o Suspension Bridge was popular for long-span bridges
o Cable-Stayed Bridge was first developed

COMPONENTS OF BRIDGE

SUBSTRUCTURE
o Foundation(Pile, Spread Footing)
o Pier (Column)
o Abutment
o Beam
o Bearing
o Pin Joint

Superstructure
Any structures above bearing which support the roadway
Wearing Surface

Bridge Span > 6m

Culvert Span < 6m
TYPES OF BRIDGE

Highway Bridge (trucks, cars)

Pedestrian (pedestrians, bicycles)
Railway Bridge (trains)
Transit guideway (city trains, monorail)
Other types (pipelines, utilities, industrial, aqueduct, airport structure)

TYPE OF BRIDGE BY TRAFFIC POSITION

DECK TYPE
o Structural components under the deck
o Preferred by drivers (can clearly see the view)
o Requires space under the bridge
THROUGH TYPE
Structural components above the deck
Obstructed view (not a problem for a railway bridges)
No structure under the bridge
HALF-THROUGH TYPE

TYPES BY MATERIALS & FABRICATIONS

MATERIALS
o Masonry (brick, rock)
o Timber
o Reinforce Concrete (RC)
o Prestressed Concrete (PC)
o Iron
o Steel
o Aluminum
o Composites
o Plastics
o Etc
FABRICATIONS
Precast (RC/PC)
Cast-In-Place (RC/PC)
Pretensioned (PC)
Posttensioned (PC)
Prefabricated (steel)
Rivet (steel)

Bolted (steel/timber)
Welded (steel)
Etc

TYPES OF BRIDGE BY STRUCTURE

o

Arc
- Semi-circle (has vertical reaction force only)
- Flat arch (has vertical and horizontal forces at the support)
- Tied arch (tie resists tension force)
- It was invented during the Roman empire
- Materials (Masonry, Timber, Concrete (RC/PC), Steel)
Beam
- Most basic type of bridge
- Consists of a beam simply supported on each side by a pier and can be made continuous
later
- Typically inexpensive to build
- Materials (Timber Truss, RC beam, Steel Plate Girder/ Box Girder, Steel Truss Girder,
Prestressed Concrete Precast Girder)
- Segmental construction may be constructed in 2 ways
o Cantilever Construction construct from the pier equally on both sides
o Span-by-Span Construction finish one span at a time
Cantilever
- Bridge roadway is constructed out from the pier in two direction at the same time so that
the weight on both side counterbalance each other
Cable-Stayed
- All the forces are transferred to the pylon
- Materials (concrete box roadway, steel box roadway, steel truss roadway)
- Harp Type/ Fan Type
Suspension
- It needs to have very strong main cable
- Cables are anchored at the abutment
- Tension member is a truss

HINGE it changes the degree of indeterminancy in the structure

THINS TO CONSIDER:

Span length
Bridge length
Beam spacing
Material available
Site conditions (foundations, height, space constraints)
Speed of construction
Constructability
Technology/ Equipment available
Aesthetics

 Cost
Access for maintenance
COST VS SPAN LENGTH
The Span length may be influenced by the cost of superstructure (cost/meter) and substructure
(cost/pier)
If the substructure cost is about 25% of total cost (shorter span is more cost-effective)
If the substructure cost is about 50% of total cost (longer span is more cost-effective)
ACCESS FOR MAINTENANCE
Total Cost = Initial Cost + Maintenance Cost
Bridge should be made easy to inspect and maintain
Maintenance cost may govern the selection of bridge
o Steel bridge needs a lot of maintenance in coastal regions
o Concrete bridge usually require the least maintenance
BEAM SPACING - Beam spacing determine the number of girders