Bridge Structural Components & their classification

A bridge refers to a structure that is developed to extent over physical obstacles as well as provide passage for the road, railway, pedestrians, a canal or a pipeline. The obstacles to be spanned may belong to a river, a road, railway or a valley. Designs of bridges are based on the function of the bridge, the type of the terrain where the bridge is built up and anchored, the required material for developing it, and the existing funds to construct it.
Bridges are classified in various ways. General categories contain the type of structural elements applied, by what they bear, either they are static or transportable, and by the materials used.
Bridges are also categorized by how the forces of tension, compression, bending, torsion and shear are dispersed through their structure. Maximum bridges will make use of all of the primary forces to some degree, but only a few will prevail. In a suspension or cable-stayed span, the elements in tension will vary according to shape and placement. In other cases the forces are dispersed amid numerous members, as in a truss, or not evidently clear to a casual observer as in a box beam

Categorization of Bridges (in relation to form (or) type of superstructures)
1.Slab bridge
2. Beam bridge
3. Truss bridge
4. Arch bridge
5. Cable stayed (or )suspended bridge

Categorization of Bridges (in relation to material of construction of superstructure)
1. Timber bridge
2. Concrete bridge
3. Stone bridge
4. R.C.C bridge
5. Steel bridge
6. P.C.C bridge
7. Composite bridge
8. Aluminum bridge

Categorization of Bridges (in relation to inter-span relationship):
1. Simply supported bridge
2. Cantilever bridge
3. Continuous bridge


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