The simplest form of bridge the beam bridges

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

Beam Bridges

The beam type of bridge is by far the simplest and the beam type of bridge is also the most common. You probably see beam bridges often. A beam bridge is just a beam supported by pillars or columns.

Materials and Construction

Beam bridges are commonly built from concrete. Beam bridges are also made of steel, or a mixture of steel and concrete. They often are made in sections, or boxes, where they are attached at the site of the bridge. The boxes are made out of steel and concrete or just concrete.

Arch Bridge:

In this type of bridge, the weight is carried outward along two curving paths. The points where the arch reaches the ground keep the bridge up by resisting the outward thrust. The roadway is located on top of the arch.

Suspension Bridges:

Suspension bridges "bridge the unbridgeable". In a suspension bridge, cables which are suspended via towers which support them hold up the road deck. The weight is transferred by the cables to the towers, which then in turn transfer the weight to the ground.

Materials and Construction

The amount of towers on suspension bridges can vary, but a suspension bridge MUST have at least two towers. When possible, these towers are built on ground. However, there are methods for making "floating towers" that are secured. Towers are usually built with hollow steel boxes, but some are built with concrete.

Cantilever Bridge:

Cantilever bridges depend on counterbalances. Counterbalances are weights used to balance another weight. They consist of two or more (which many cantilever bridges have at least four) arms that equally balance each other, almost like a perfectly balanced see-saw. Often, the part of the bridge that leads to the first cantilever is just a beam bridge.

Materials and Construction

Some use one arch to connect (and essentially act as) the arm. Others just have arms and a roadway, or arms, a roadway, and cables that work like a cable-stayed bridge. Cantilever bridges are built in a way similar to beam and arch bridges, depending on how the bridge is designed.

Truss Bridge:

A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements (typically straight) which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges. The basic types of truss bridges shown in this article have simple designs which could be easily analysed by nineteenth and early twentieth century engineers. A truss bridge is economical to construct owing to its efficient use of materials.

Our bridge design:

Our bridge design is modelled after the Warren truss bridge design. The project has a light weight design; this is to ensure not to go over the weight requirement. This structure is easy to construct and, shown by the force analysis, can distribute loads efficiently.