We required a structure to get beyond natural barriers and hurdles as humankind began to spread across lands and territories. By utilizing their resources, engineers built bridges that connected our cities and altered the entire landscape.
How are bridges constructed? Since the beginning of time, bridge construction has experienced a significant shift that includes the introduction of new, more durable materials, large gear, and new construction procedures. Even though it is considerably simpler to build bridges now, bridge engineering still requires exact physics, a lot of resources, and careful planning both before and during construction.
Although building bridges requires precise and cautious work, once the foundations are understood, they are straightforward. To discover more about the fundamentals of bridge construction, continue reading or go to the infographic below.
A beam bridge is what?
The earliest and most basic type of bridge is a beam bridge. Given that some beam bridges lack a pillar support, they are frequently employed for short distances. An abutment or pier is typically used to hold these beams at each end. However, this merely requires that a continuous row of beam bridges be tied together by pillars; it does not rule out the use of beam bridges for vast distances.
The weight and material of the beam, among other things, affect the length of a beam bridge. The thickness of the bridge material is required to increase the beam weight capability. However, when the bridge’s span lengthens, it’s feasible that the added weight of the beams will cause the bridge to start bending.
The beam bridge can be built anywhere, whether on building sites or in forests, with the use of inexpensive materials like logs, wood planks, or stone slabs. It is generally more practical to build new beam bridges than to move existing beam bridges because this form of bridge cannot be moved easily because it is cemented into the ground.
How to Build a Beam Bridge: 5 Steps
Step 1: Examine the placement of the bridge
Make sure you investigate the site before beginning any building. This is crucial since it establishes the materials to be used as well as the quantity of those materials. To make sure you have a good working area, measure the space. If you are building over a creek, for instance, think about the water level and where the foundation should go.
Step 2 Build the beam bridge foundation
At either end, foundation blocks must be erected or put in order to set the beams in place. This guarantees that the beams have a solid foundation on which to be secured. An excavator or skid steer loader would be your best choice if the terrain needed to be removed in order to make room for these foundations.
Step 3: Anchor beams to the base
First, place the beam ends on top of the foundation blocks, checking to make sure they are parallel and the appropriate length. Use metal straps or drill holes through the beams to insert concrete screws for fastening beams to the foundation. However, concrete can also hold the beams in place if they are buried in the ground.
Step 4 Add planks to the bridge
The horizontal beams must be covered with hardwood boards to make a robust bridge decking before people or vehicles may cross it. This guarantees that using beam bridges won’t result in any significant accidents. Hiring a crane can expedite the process of placing the wood planks onto the beam bridge if the beam bridge is too lengthy to transport them from point A to point B.
Step 5 Test the weight capacity
To ensure safe passages across the bridge, the maximum weight capacity of the bridge must be examined before to usage. Using the proper weighting techniques, such as static performance load testing, this can be evaluated. Workers can use this test to identify the weakest areas of the bridge and make necessary changes.
Bridge Plans
Depending on their usage and location, bridges are constructed to bear stress and compression in a variety of ways.
The most typical bridge layouts consist of:
Suspension bridges: Piers balance compression while the bridge deck is supported by cables strung from vertical suspenders.
Bridges with truss superstructures: The diagonal chords or beams that run the length of the bridge conduct tension and compression.
Bridges with arches: An arch made of steel, stone, or concrete balances compression and acts as a wind bracer.
Bridges with cantilevers: Bridges with cantilevers use a set of higher chords to support tension and a set of lower chords to support compression.
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Engineers face similar difficulties when trying to build underwater, investing a lot of effort and money into building a bridge that serves its purpose. Bridges come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all apply engineering concepts to serve as permanent structures that people use every day for transportation and commuting. Bridges show the balance that architects, engineers, and builders work to achieve by being both useful in their intended use and elegant in their design.
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