Example 14-4  An Expanding Bridge

Bridges are constructed with expansion joints (Figure 14-8) to allow the bridge to
expand on hot days without buckling. Suppose the bridge is made in two halves, each
of which is made of steel and is 10.0 m long when the temperature is 18.0°C. The left-
hand end of the left half is held in place and cannot move, as is the right-hand end of
the right half. How large a gap should there be between the two halves at 18.0°C so
that the structure does not buckle on an exceptionally hot day when the temperature
is 45.0°C?

Figure 14-8 ​A thermal expansion joint Bridges are built with thermal expansion joints such as
these to account for expansion and contraction of the bridge in hot and cold conditions.

Set Up
At 18.0°C each half of the bridge has length Change in length due to a d
L0 = 10.0 m. We want to choose the gap d temperature change:
­between them so that at 45.0°C the gap just
L = aL0   T (14-18) L0 L0
closes. For this to happen, each half must
increase in length by a distance d>2 as the at 18.0°C
­temperature increases. We use Equation 14-18
for the length increase of each half of the L´ L´
bridge. Table 14-1 gives the coefficient of at 45.0°C
­thermal expansion a for steel.

Solve
Write an expression for the length change From Table 14-1,
of each bridge half when the temperature
a = 13.0 * 1026 K21 for steel
increases from 18.0°C to 45.0°C.
The temperature change is
T = 45.0°C 2 18.0°C = 27.0 K
(Recall that a temperature change of 1°C is the same as a temperature
change of 1 K.)

Then from Equation 14-18, the length change of each

bridge half is
L = aL0 T
= (13.0 * 1026 K21)(10.0 m)(27.0 K)
= 3.51 * 1023 m = 3.51 mm

The length change L of each bridge half is The necessary gap between the two bridge halves at 18.0°C is
equal to d>2 (half the gap at 18.0°C), so d is
d = 2 L = 2(3.51 mm)
equal to 2 L.
= 7.02 mm = 0.276 in.

Reflect
This gap is small enough that it offers no
resistance to a car’s tire or a pedestrian’s foot.
Without a sufficiently large expansion joint,
the bridge halves in this problem would push
against each other on a hot day and eventually
warp or buckle as shown.