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steel girders and are not limited to standardized shapes. The ability to customize a girder to the exact load conditions allows the bridge design to be more efficient. Plate girder can be used for spans between 10 metres and more than 100 metres (33 feet to more than 330 feet). Stiffeners are occasionally welded between the compression flange and the web to increase the strength of the girder.
202:-style bridges, the girders are still the main support for the deck, but the load is transferred through the truss or arch to the foundation. These designs allow bridges to span larger distances without requiring the depth of the beam to increase beyond what is practical. However, with the inclusion of a truss or arch the bridge is no longer a true girder bridge.
230:, the techniques for building bridges included the driving of wooden poles to serve as the bridge columns and then filling the column space with various construction materials. The bridges constructed by Romans were at the time basic but very dependable and strong while serving a very important purpose in social life.
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consists of the steel or concrete system supporting the deck. This includes the girders themselves, diaphragms or cross-braces, and (if applicable) the truss or arch system. In a girder bridge this would include only the girders and the bracing system. The girders are the primary load support, while
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A girder may be made of concrete or steel. Many shorter bridges, especially in rural areas where they may be exposed to water overtopping and corrosion, utilize concrete box girder. The term "girder" is typically used to refer to a steel beam. In a beam or girder bridge, the beams themselves are the
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is a girder that has been fabricated by welding plates together to create the desired shape. The fabricator receives large plates of steel in the desired thickness, and then cuts the flanges and web from the plate in the desired length and shape. Plate girders can have a greater height than rolled
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is to allow the superstructure to move somewhat independently of the substructure. All materials naturally expand and contract with temperature - if a bridge were completely rigid, this would cause unnecessary stress on the structure and could lead to failure or damage. By fixing the superstructure
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All bridges consist of two main parts: the substructure, and the superstructure. The superstructure is everything from the bearing pads, up - it is what supports the loads and is the most visible part of the bridge. The substructure is the foundation which transfers loads from the superstructure to
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bridges, and they are still built today. These types of bridges have been built by human beings since ancient times, with the initial design being much simpler than what we utilize today. As technology advanced the methods were improved and were based on the utilization and manipulation of rock,
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is the structure that transfers the loads into the ground. There are two primary types of systems: a spread footer, which is a simple concrete slab resting on bedrock; or a piling cap, which utilizes steel piles to reach sound bedrock that may be deep underground. Another system utilizes
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A concrete girder bridge pier during construction prior to installation of the bridge deck and parapets, consisting of multiple angled pylons for support (bottom), a horizontal concrete cap (center), and girders (top) with temporary wood
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is the part that supports the bearing pads. Depending on the type of support structure, there may or may not be a cap. Wall piers and stub abutments do not require a cap, while a multi-column, hammerhead, or pile-bent pier will have a
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or "tub girder" is, as the name suggests, a box shape. They consist of two vertical webs, short top flanges on top of each web, and a wide bottom flange connecting the webs together. A box girder is particularly resistant to
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primary support for the deck, and are responsible for transferring the load down to the foundation. Material type, shape, and weight all affect how much weight a beam can hold. Due to the properties of the
194:, the height of a girder is the most significant factor to affect its load capacity. Longer spans, more traffic, or wider spacing of the beams will all directly result in a deeper beam. In
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at one end, while allowing the other end of a span to move freely in the longitudinal direction, thermal stresses are alleviated and the lifespan of the bridge increased.
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is a girder that has been fabricated by rolling a blank cylinder of steel through a series of dies to create the desired shape. These create standardized
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Girder bridges have existed for millennia in a variety of forms depending on resources available. The oldest types of bridges are the
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or stub is the main body of the foundation. It transfers the load from the superstructure, through the cap, down to the footer.
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The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge design. However, some authors define
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and, while expensive, are utilized in situations where a standard girder might succumb to torsion or toppling effects.
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the bracing system both allows the girders to act together as a unit, and prevents the beams from toppling.
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slab, but can also be a steel grid or wood plank. The deck includes any road lanes, medians, sidewalks,
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is a foundation that transfers the bridge structure to the roadway or walkway on solid ground. A
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is the roadway or walkway surface. In roadway applications it is usually a poured
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stone, mortar and other materials that would serve to be stronger and longer.
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the ground. Both must work together to create a strong, long-lasting bridge.
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Bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers
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due to steel's greater strength and larger application potential.
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or railings, and miscellaneous items like drainage and lighting.
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give a good cross section of girder bridge construction
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or steel-reinforced concrete "pillars" below the stem.
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and wide flange beam shapes up to 100 feet in length.
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The substructure is made of multiple parts as well:
925:List of lists of covered bridges in North America
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35:, while the bottom is a concrete girder bridge.
257:The superstructure consists of several parts:
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583:(PDF) - Montana Department of Transportation
577:(PDF) - Montana Department of Transportation
31:Two different girder bridges. The top is a
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449:National Institute of Industrial Technology
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541:"Bridge Engineering: A Global Perspective"
186:slightly differently from girder bridges.
419:— an evolution of the plate girder bridge
408:— the ancestor of the plate girder bridge
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554:"American Wide Flange Beams - W Beam"
358:The stubs at the eastern end of the
520:Ohio Department of Transportation.
507:Robert Lamb and Michael Morrissey.
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893:medieval stone bridges in Germany
575:Structural Systems and Dimensions
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581:Structural Steel Superstructures
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850:Visual index to various types
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673:Cantilever spar cable-stayed
539:Leonardo Fernandez Troyano.
494:. "Bridge the Gap", section
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318:is an intermediate support.
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1062:Bridges by structural type
558:www.engineeringtoolbox.com
522:"Bridge Terms Definitions"
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961:Continuous truss bridges
934:Lists of bridges by size
871:Lists of bridges by type
920:List of bridge–tunnels
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688:Double-beam drawbridge
451:(INTI). Archived from
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913:vertical-lift bridges
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235:Industrial Revolution
192:second moment of area
971:Masonry arch bridges
951:Cable-stayed bridges
360:Dunn Memorial Bridge
278:supporting structure
898:multi-level bridges
476:Design Technology.
458:on 8 September 2013
412:Plate girder bridge
369:rolled steel girder
267:reinforced concrete
77:Plate girder bridge
33:plate girder bridge
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956:Cantilever bridges
946:Suspension bridges
888:cantilever bridges
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785:Navigable aqueduct
527:2015-01-25 at the
509:"How Bridges Work"
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241:was replaced with
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1002:Bridge to nowhere
903:road–rail bridges
620:-related articles
417:Box girder bridge
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73:Box girder bridge
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569:External links
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908:toll bridges
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824:Through arch
658:Cable-stayed
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460:. Retrieved
453:the original
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380:plate girder
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286:bearing pads
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239:wrought iron
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228:ancient Rome
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184:beam bridges
181:
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59:truss bridge
768:Transporter
748:Submersible
733:Retractable
406:Beam bridge
91:automobiles
87:Pedestrians
63:moon bridge
45:Beam bridge
1051:Categories
807:Suspension
723:Drawbridge
693:Extradosed
668:Cantilever
653:Burr Truss
643:Box girder
462:26 October
424:References
388:box girder
171:that uses
109:Span range
103:heavy rail
99:light rail
69:Descendant
941:By length
780:Multi-way
445:Argentina
152:Falsework
1036:Category
800:Vlotbrug
713:Moveable
525:Archived
400:See also
343:caissons
309:abutment
271:parapets
154:required
129:concrete
117:Material
41:Ancestor
1011:Related
981:Tallest
976:Highest
844:Viaduct
839:Tubular
829:Trestle
795:Pontoon
738:Rolling
728:Folding
718:Bascule
678:Covered
543:. 2003.
393:torsion
298:bracing
233:As the
206:History
173:girders
135:Movable
83:Carries
51:Related
819:Timber
663:Canopy
618:Bridge
373:I-beam
338:footer
249:Design
169:bridge
95:trucks
834:Truss
812:types
758:Table
753:Swing
456:(PDF)
441:(PDF)
243:steel
220:swing
196:truss
167:is a
790:Pile
763:Tilt
708:Moon
683:Crib
638:Beam
633:Arch
491:Nova
464:2012
336:The
331:stem
329:The
326:cap.
321:The
315:pier
276:The
263:deck
261:The
218:and
216:arch
212:beam
200:arch
198:and
177:deck
125:wood
121:Iron
703:Log
698:Jet
323:cap
306:An
226:In
146:low
1053::
556:.
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386:A
378:A
367:A
214:,
163:A
157:No
138:No
127:,
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89:,
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57:,
610:e
603:t
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