| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abutment | The supports at each end of the bridge |
| Arch Bridge | One of the oldest designs in bridge building. A simple bridge that reaches across a river in an arching shape, instead of straight across. It has a natural strength. |
| Beam Bridge | A horizontal beam, supported at each end by piers or vertical posts. It is the simplest and least expensive type of bridge to build. Perfect for crossing short distances. |
| bending | When a straight material becomes curved, one side squeezes together and the other side bends apart |
| Cabel-stayed | Cables run directly from the roadway to the towers, forming an "A" shap. The towers support the entire weight of the roadway |
| Cantilever | A kind of bridge like a diving board. It has support at only one end. The single support carries the weight of the beam and prevents the beam from bending or rotating. This allows engineers to build longer span beam type bridges |
| Cofferdam | A temporary, watertight, circular dam that allows foundation work to be carried out on a river dam |
| Composite bridge | Bridges made by using a combination of the three basic types of bridges |
| Compression | A force that squeezes a material together. An object that is pressed on both ends is compressed. |
| Dead Load | The actual weight of the materials that make up a bridge. This always remains the same |
| Deck | The roadway of a bridge |
| Foundation | parts of the supports of the a bridge that spread the weight of the bridge into the ground. Foundations are normally under the ground |
| Gephyrophobia | Fear of crossing bridges |
| Live Load | Weight of the "traffic" that crosses the bridge; ie cars, people, birds, debris. It changes all of the time. |
| Pier | A support that holds up a bridge's deck from underneath. It supports the bridge away from the abutments at the ends. |
| Pozzolana | natural cement. The Romans made this cement with ash that was blown out of the volcano Vesuvius. it is waterproof and hardens even when it is wet. |
| Rebar | used to reinforce concrete. |
| Shear | A force that causes parts of material to slide past one another in opposite directions |
| Span | The distance from one support of a bridge to the next. The ______ given for a bridge is usually for the longest, unsupported section. example - the distance between towers of a suspension bridge |
| Suspension Bridge | Roadways are suspended or hung from above the bridge. Most of these types of bridges have supporting truss systems beneath the bridge or deck or roadway. These are the most expensive type of bridge to build and can span distances greater than any other type of bridge. |
| tension | a force that stretches material. An object that is pulled at both ends is in ____________. |
| torsion | An action that twists a material |
| truss | A strong frame work of straight section of metal (called strats and ties), joined together at their ends, forming triangles. This triangular structure distributes weight outward and gradually down, instead of straight down. It can be added to strengthen beam or suspension bridges. |
| Truss Bridge | Contains bars in a repeated, triangular pattern, creating a skeletal structure that allows wind to blow through. |
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