1. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BRIDGES
BY VICTORIA CANNON

2. TYPES OF BRIDGES
ARCH
SUSPENSION
CABLE STAYED
GIRDER
CANTILEVER

3. The Physics Behind Bridges
Compression -a force that acts to compress or shorten the thing it’s acting upon
Tension -a force that acts to expand or lengthen the thing it’s acting on

4. Stress –a measure of the total internal forces acting within a body as a result of external applied and body forces
Strain-measure of deformation
A bridge should be able to withstand the compression and tension, stress and strain with a minimum of buckling or snapping
It does this by dissipating or transferring the forces

5.                                                             
GIRDER
Is basically a bridge built atop girders placed upon bride abutments and foundation piers
Oldest type of bridge
Rolled steel, plate, concrete, box, I-beam, pi, T shaped girder bridges
Most common, basic

6. NOTORIOUS GIRDER King Street Bridge, Melbourne, Australia
Connecting King Street to Kingsway
July 10, 1962, one span collapsed under the weight of a 47 ton semitrailer due to brittle fracture

7. CANTILEVER
A modified form of the beam bridge with the support being placed in the middle of the span
Like a diving board
Can span wide spaces and be built without the need for expensive foundation piers

8. NOTORIOUS CANTILEVER The Quebec Bridge
In both instances faulty calculations and poor materials were the cause
1907-killed 76 workmen
1908-killed 11 workmen
Girders were misaligned and one of the four rocker arms failed

9. Arch Second oldest type Well suited for stone
Doesn’t require a pier, so can
span rivers and valleys
Has a high resistance to
bending forces
Four common types:
Hinge-less
Two hinged
Three hinged
Tied arch

10. FAMOUS ARCH The Meiwa 137m Located in Edogawa, Japan Completed in 1992
Spans the Shinnaka River
Braced Rib Arch
137m
Completed in 1992
Used 784ft of steel

11. SUSPENSION Allows for the longest spans Extremely strong yet flexible
Vulnerable to wind
                                                            

12. FAMOUS SUSPENSION AKASHI KAIKYO BRIDGE
Also known as the “Pearl Bridge”
spans 1,991m (world’s largest)
May 1986-April 5, 1998
23,000 cars per day
Cost $5 billion dollars
$20.00 toll
Ferries used to cross the stormy Akashi Strait until two capsized killing 168 children. Bridge was built as a result.

13. NOTORIOUS SUSPENION The Point Pleasant/Silver Bridge
Spanned the Ohio river connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Kanauga, Ohio
Made of carbon steel
Dec 15, 1967, a heavy Christmas rush put extra stress upon the 39 year old carbon steel bridge causing a cleavage fracture in one of the “eyebars,” followed by a fracture near the pin.
Took 1 minute to collapse completely.
46 dead, 9 injured.

14. Cable Stayed
Consists of one or more columns with cables supporting the bridge deck
Is ideal for lengths between that of cantilever and suspension bridges
Comes in a mono, harp, fan and star design

15. FAMOUS CABLE STAYED
Sunshine Skyway Bridge, St. Petersburg and Bradenton, Florida
Completed in 1987
$244 million
29,040ft

16. Bridges in Literature
The Bridge by Iain Banks

17. Bridges in the Media A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Received 7.3 out of 10 stars from the Internet Movie Database