ABriefHistoryofBridges

PreIndustrial Revolution
It
Itisbelievedthattheearliestbridgeswerenatural(i.e.logs
is believed that the earliest bridges were natural (i e logs
thathadfallenacrossstreams)ormadewithavailable
naturalmaterials[Barker& Pucket,2006].

Forlargerwaterbodies,fords(naturalormanmade)would
haveallowedpassagetohumansandlivestock.
Littleisknownaboutearlybridges,astheyweremadefrom
Little is known about early bridges as they were made from
materialsthatdeterioratedovertimeorwerereplacedby
newersolutionsasneedschanged.
Moderndaypedestrianbridgesinremote,developing
yp g , p g
regionsoftheworldgiveussomeclueofwhatthefirst
bridgesmighthavelookedlike.
Tanzania

Tarr Steps(England)

[Graf]
Afghanistan

[Graf]
Swisshikingtrailbridge
 ABriefHistoryofBridges
PreIndustrial Revolution
As
Associetiesevolved,sododidthesophisticationoftheir
societies evolved so do did the sophistication of their
bridgebuildingmethods.Priortotheindustrialrevolution,
arguablythemostimpressivebridgestructureswerethearch
bridgeandaqueductstructuresbuiltduringRomantimes.
g q g
TheRomansusedsemicirculararchesbuiltofstone.The
archstructurehastheadvantagethattheprimaryloadingis
compressive.Usingthisapproach,archbridgescouldbebuilt
withoutusingmortartoresistshearandtension.
Throughthemiddleagesmanymorestonearchbridgeswere
builtandremaininusetothisday.Thereisgoodreasonto
believe that wood was also a common material for bridge
believethatwoodwasalsoacommonmaterialforbridge
buildingduringthistime.However,thewoodenbridgesof
thisperiodinevitablydeteriorated,burntdown,orwere
replacedovertime,solittleexistsofthemtoday.
p , y
Kazarma
Mycenaean
Bridge (Greece)
Bridge(Greece),
1300BC

[Grard Mtron,structurae.de]
AqueductatSegovia(Spain),100AD

[Graf]

Avignon Bridge(France),1185

[Graf]
RialtoBridge(Italy),1591

[Graf]

StoneBridgeatSligachan (Scotland),1818
 ABriefHistoryofBridges
Iron/SteelBridges
It
Itiswidelyagreedthatdawnofthemodernbridgecoincided
is widely agreed that dawn of the modern bridge coincided
withtheindustrialrevolutionandthedawnoftheuseof
metal namelycastiron inbridgeconstruction.
ThewellknownIronBridgeinCoalbrookdale,England,
g , g ,
builtin17761779isconsideredtobethefirstallmetal
bridge.Designed/builtbyDarby,thisbridgewasacastiron
archbridgewithaspanof30.5m.
Theideaofasuspensionbridgewiththemaincables
consistingoflongchainshasbeenaroundforsometime
(since65ADinChina[Lebet &Hirt2009]).However,withthe
materials of the time the spans were limited to around 20
materialsofthetime,thespanswerelimitedtoaround20
m.TheEnglishengineerTelfordpushedthislimit
considerablyin1826withhisMenai BridgeinWales,which
hasaspanof176mandmadeuseofchainlinksconsistingof
p g
2.9mcastironeyebarswithpinsateachend.
Alongperiodofevolutionofbridgetechnologies,
constructionmethods,andrecordspansensuedafterthisin
Europe,NorthAmerica,andtherestoftheworld,which
continuestothisday.
Earlymetalbridgesweremadeof
caste iron ro ght iron or old
casteiron,wroughtiron,orold,
highcarbon,nonweldable steels.
Memberswerejoinedbyriveting.
Modern steel bridges, the various
Modernsteelbridges,thevarious
elementsofthebridgearejoined
byweldingorbolting.
IronBridge(England),1779

span=30.5m,castiron

Menai Bridge(Wales),1826
g ( ),

span=176m
BritanniaBridge(Wales),1850

wroughtirontubularbridge
mainspans=146m
Brookly Bridge(USA),1883

suspensionbridgewithcablestays
suspension bridge with cable stays
mainspan=487m
Garabit RailBridge(France),1884

wroughtironarchbridge
mainspan=165m
cantileverrailbridge
mainspans=521m

ForthofFirthBridge(Scotland),1890
QuebecBridge,1917

cantileverbridge
cantilever bridge
mainspan=549m

1907collapse
1907 ll
(74fatalities)
 Highway402Overpass,
1975,typicalspan=40m

Millau Viaduct,2004,
typicalspan=342m
 Princip
palSpan[m
m]

Year

www.tkkk.fi/Unitss/Bridge/ch
hronologiccal.html
[Lebet &Hirt2009]
 ABriefHistoryofBridges
Prestressed ConcreteBridges
The
TheinventionofPortlandcementisgenerallycreditedto
invention of Portland cement is generally credited to
JosephAspdin (UK),whoin1824wasthefirsttomixground
limestoneandclaytogetherandheattheminakiln.
In1928,EugeneFreyssinet
, g y ((France)wasthefirstengineerto
) g
useprestressedconcrete.Earlierattemptsusingnormal
strengthreinforcementwereunsuccessful.Freyssinet used
highstrengthprestressingwires.

In1935,firstprestressedtankswerebuiltinNorthAmerica.
ThefirstprestressedconcretebridgeinNorthAmericawas
theWalnutLaneBridge,builtinPhiladelphiain1950.
g , p
In1960,prestressedconcretedesignwasfirstintroduced
intobuildingcodes.
WalnutLaneBridge(USA),1950

mainspan=48.8m,sidespans=22.6m
precastgirders,castinplacedeckslab

[structurae.de]
 ABriefHistoryofBridges
SomeFamousBridgeDesigners
Robert
RobertMaillart
Maillart (18721940)isSwiss
(1872 1940) is Swiss
engineerwhoiswellknownforhis
aestheticallypleasingreinforced
concretebridges.Inparticular,hedid
g p ,
muchtodevelopthe3hingedarchand
deckstiffenedarchstructures.Classical
examplesofhisworkincludethe
Salginatobel andStauffacher bridges.

ChristianMenn (1927)isanotherSwiss
bridgedesignerwhohasspecializedin
thedesignofaestheticallypleasingpre
g yp gp
stressedconcretebridges.Anexample
ofhisworkistheSunniberg bridge.

SantiagoCalatrava (1951)isaSpanish
engineerarchitectknownforhis
unusualbridgeandbuildingstructures,
some of which are inspired by natural
someofwhichareinspiredbynatural
formssuchasskeletonsandtrees.An
exampleofhisworkistheAlamillo
bridgeinSevilla,Spain.
g , p
Schwandbach Bridge
(Switzerland),1933

Deckstiffenedarch
bridgemainspan=37m

3hingedarchbridge
mainspan=90m

Salginatobel Bridge
(Switzerland),1930
 [Tateishi]

[Matthai Kurian,structurae.de]
 Sunniberg Bridge
(Switzerland),1998

Cablestayedbridge
mainspan=140m

[Tateishi]
Alamillo Bridge
(Spain),1992
anotherCalatrava
design in Berlin
designinBerlin
 BridgeTypes
ArchBridges
Hingeless
Hinge less

Twohinge

Threehinge

Tiedarch

[Lebet &Hirt2009]
 BridgeTypes
TrussBridges
Pratt

Howe

Warren

Other
 BridgeTypes
SuspensionandCableStayedBridges
Suspension

[Barker&Pucket 2006]
Cablestayed

[Barker&Pucket 2006]
 BridgeTypes
GirderBridges
Straightorhaunched
Straight or haunched

Simplysupportedorcontinuous

I orboxgirders

[Lebet &Hirt2009]
 BridgeTypes
SlabBridgesandCulverts
Slabbridges
Slab bridges

Culverts
 BridgeTypes
OtherBridge Types
RigidFrame
Rigid Frame

[Lebet &Hirt2009]
Underspanned

[C.Drewry]

TubularTruss Moveable
 slab

Igirder

truss arch

frame wood

boxgirder

boxgirder cable
stayed

suspension

[CSAS606]
 BridgeTypes
Classification byMaterial/Application
Materialsused
Materials used
steel
reinforcedconcrete
wood d
aluminum
fibrereinforcedpolymer

Applications
highway
hi h
rail
pedestrian
combined
other

[Lebet &Hirt2009]
http://timber.ce.wsu.edu
Pont dArvida (1950)
[A. De La Chevrotiere
[A
(MAADI Group Inc.)]
[deCastro2005]

[CCLAB]
 [Tonias &Zhao2007]

slab

studs

wind maingirders

support
crossbracing
lateral
pier [Lebet &Hirt2009]
bracing
 BridgeAesthetics
IntegrationwithSurroundings

[Matthai Kurian,structurae.de]

OverallStructuralConfiguration
Goldenratio:1to1.618
[Barker&Puckett2006]
[Barker&Puckett2006]
[Barker&Puckett2006]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
BridgeAesthetics
PiersandAbutments

[Barker&Puckett2006]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
[Barker&Puckett2006]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
 BridgeAesthetics
Shadows, Surfaces,andColours

[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
[Barker&Puckett2006]
[AlbertaInfrastructureStudy,2005]
 TheDesignProcess
Engineering is the art of modelling
materials
t i l we d do nott wholly
h ll understand,
d t d
into shapes we cannot precisely analyze
so as to withstand forces we cannot
properly assess, in such a way that the
public has no reason to suspect the
extent of our ignorance
-A.R.
AR D Dykes
k

[Barker&Puckett2006]
 PreliminaryDesign
PrimaryConsiderations

1. Spans for different bridge types

2
2. Site considerations
3. Subsurface conditions
4. Functional requirements
q
5. Economy
6. Maintenance
7
7. Constructability
PreliminaryDesign
SpanConsiderations

[Barker&Puckett2006]
PrincipalSpan[m]

[Lebet &Hirt2009]
[Barker&Puckett2006]
 PreliminaryDesign
Economy

Cost Total

Total

superstructure

deep
foundations
shallow
foundations
PrincipalSpan[m]

optimalspans

[Lebet &Hirt2009]
PreliminaryDesign
Durability
Thedesperatearenolongerjumpingoff
ofbridges
 PreliminaryDesign
Typical SpantoDepthRatios

[Barker&Puckett2006]
 PreliminaryDesign
SteelGirderRulesofThumb