Bridge Structures

Bridge Structures and The Use of Geometry in Their Design

What is a bridge? A bridge is a structure providing continuous passage over a body of water, roadway, or valley. Every bridge looks different from the another. Their bridge structure is different. There are nine types of main bridges. Bridge engineers use a lot of geometry to help them design the different bridges. Without geometry, the bridges would not be safe.

Bridges have been around for a long time. The earliest bridges were probably formed by laying one or more logs across a brook or by stretching ropes or cables across a narrow valley. Those types of bridges are still in use. Wooden-beam bridges appear to have been the most common type known to the ancients, although according to the tradition a brick-arch bridge was built about 1800 BC in Babylon. Other forms, such as simple suspension and cantilever bridges, are known to have been used in ancient India, China, and Tibet. Pontoon bridges were used in the military expeditions of the Persian monarchs Darius I and Xerxes I.

The Romans built many timber-trestle bridges. Surviving roman bridges, however usually have a level road supported on one or more semicircular stone arches. One of the most famous bridges would be The Pont du Gard at Nimes, France. It has three tiers of arches rising 155 feet above the Gard River, spans a distance of 855 feet. It was built in the late...