Main Bridge



Main

Bridge

HARLAN – Motorists traveling in the vicinity of 4th and Main Sts. In northeast Harlan are being made aware that, for safety reasons, a wooden structure bridge near that location is being closed for the winter. The Harlan City Council approved the closing last week through April 15.

  1. Main Bridge The primary command and control functions for the Gallipoli, like most star ships, is the bridge located at the top of the primary hull on deck 1. Like the Galaxy Mk2 the Gallipoli has a modular bridge configuration. The bridge on the Genesis has a pretty standard design with the captain’s chair located at the centre of the bridge.
  2. The bridge is a room or platform of a ship from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is under way, the bridge is manned by an officer of the watch aided usually by an able seaman acting as lookout.
  • The elements of bridge design
    • Basic forms
    • Materials
    • Construction
    • Performance in service
  • The history of bridge design
    • Early wood and stone bridges
      • The ancient world
      • The Renaissance and after
    • Iron and steel bridges, 1779–1929
      • Iron
      • Steel
    • Concrete bridges
      • Reinforced concrete
      • Prestressed concrete
    • Steel bridges after 1931
      • Long-span suspension bridges
    • Cable-stayed bridges
    • Asian long-span bridges and viaducts
      • China
      • Japan
Please select which sections you would like to print:
PicturesBridge

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Join

Main Bridge Club

Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work!
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Last Updated: See Article History

Bridge, structure that spans horizontally between supports, whose function is to carry vertical loads. The prototypical bridge is quite simple—two supports holding up a beam—yet the engineering problems that must be overcome even in this simple form are inherent in every bridge: the supports must be strong enough to hold the structure up, and the span between supports must be strong enough to carry the loads. Spans are generally made as short as possible; long spans are justified where good foundations are limited—for example, over estuaries with deep water.

Bridge

Main Bridge Designs

Bridge Quiz

Main Bridge In Nyc

Where is the longest bridge? Where is the Golden Gate Bridge? Learn about famous bridges as well as world record setting bridges in this quiz.

All major bridges are built with the public’s money. Therefore, bridge design that best serves the public interest has a threefold goal: to be as efficient, as economical, and as elegant as is safely possible. Efficiency is a scientific principle that puts a value on reducing materials while increasing performance. Economy is a social principle that puts value on reducing the costs of construction and maintenance while retaining efficiency. Finally, elegance is a symbolic or visual principle that puts value on the personal expression of the designer without compromising performance or economy. There is little disagreement over what constitutes efficiency and economy, but the definition of elegance has always been controversial.

Modern designers have written about elegance or aesthetics since the early 19th century, beginning with the Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Bridges ultimately belong to the general public, which is the final arbiter of this issue, but in general there are three positions taken by professionals. The first principle holds that the structure of a bridge is the province of the engineer and that beauty is fully achieved only by the addition of architecture. The second idea, arguing from the standpoint of pure engineering, insists that bridges making the most efficient possible use of materials are by definition beautiful. The third case holds that architecture is not needed but that engineers must think about how to make the structure beautiful. This last principle recognizes the fact that engineers have many possible choices of roughly equal efficiency and economy and can therefore express their own aesthetic ideas without adding significantly to materials or cost.

Generally speaking, bridges can be divided into two categories: standard overpass bridges or unique-design bridges over rivers, chasms, or estuaries. This article describes features common to both types, but it concentrates on the unique bridges because of their greater technical, economic, and aesthetic interest.

Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today

The elements of bridge design

Basic forms

Bridge

Bridge And Main Market

There are six basic bridge forms: the beam, the truss, the arch, the suspension, the cantilever, and the cable-stay.

Beam

The beam bridge is the most common bridge form. A beam carries vertical loads by bending. As the beam bridge bends, it undergoes horizontal compression on the top. At the same time, the bottom of the beam is subjected to horizontal tension. The supports carry the loads from the beam by compression vertically to the foundations.

When a bridge is made up of beams spanning between only two supports, it is called a simply supported beam bridge. If two or more beams are joined rigidly together over supports, the bridge becomes continuous.

Quick Facts

Main Bridge Club

key people
related topics