Bridges: Most Important Things in Structure

Bridges usually don’t have the same shape and size. Bridges have a lot of elements in common for example to get people across for one place to another safe and the quickest way possible, to be able to hold its own weight, all bridges have a piers that hold up the center of the bridge. The aspects that engineers need to consider when designing and constructing bridges are bridge location and length, the materials needed and the type of bridge needed.

The first thing engineers have to take into consideration is the bridge location and the length because distance on how long the bridge is going to be, they have to know this so that they know what materials are needed to use for example if they are building a short bridge fiber rope would be used the most. Timber would be used for bridges that are gonna be in public parks or private property. Engineers have to know if the bridge is going to cross over a river, bay or if they have to connect islands to the mainland. “The exact location of a bridge is carefully chosen to simplify construction, reduce cost, and ensure the bridge is strong and durable”(Woodford). Bridges can be use full for many different things. When building a bridge you have to know the weight of the traffic that must go across the bridge.

Will the bridge survive through all the weather conditions that can occur, can it handle high winds and snow or will it start to sway back and forth until it breaks. The bridge has to be able to support its own weight and of course the weight from all the traffic. Engineers have to know what bridge type they’re gonna design. Is it gonna be an arch bridge, suspension bridge or a beam bridge, or a truss bridge. “Civil engineers decide which type of bridge to build based on the weight or load that the bridge must support, the distance the bridge has to span, and the forces of nature that the bridge will have to endure”(Lewis). Engineers have to know what is the length that the bridge is going to be mostly used for, is it to cause less traffic. The Arch bridge is the safest bridge when it comes to traffic and weather. Its the safest bridge because it can hold the most weight out of all the other bridges. Engineers have to know what materials to use in order to make the safest bridge possible.

They have to know the width of the bridge, make safety rails and walkways. Materials used to build bridges include rope, wood, stone, iron and much more. They have to make sure that all the materials fit their budget and make sure that the materials will last years so that they don’t have to keep replacing them. “Durability of materials and maintenance requirements are important considerations, as the true cost of a bridge is not simply the initial construction expense but the total cost of constructing and maintaining the structure throughout its service life”(bridge structure). All bridges must consist piers that will hold up the center of the bridge.

Materials, bridge type and bridge location and length are what I think are the three most important things that engineers have to take into considerations. In order to make a bridge that is affordable, safe and still have a nice design. There are more considerations that engineers have to consider but those are just the three main priorities when building a bridge.

Works Cited

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