Bridges
There are three
major types of bridges:
·
The beam bridge
·
The arch bridge
·
The suspension
bridge
The biggest difference between the three is
the distances they can cross in a single span. A span is the distance between two bridge supports, whether
they are columns, towers or the wall of a canyon. A modern beam bridge, for
instance, is likely to span a distance of up to 200 feet (60 meters), while a
modern arch can safely span up to 800 or 1,000 feet (240 to 300 m). A
suspension bridge, the pinnacle of bridge technology, is capable of spanning up
to 7,000 feet (2,100 m).
What allows an
arch bridge to span greater distances than a beam bridge, or a suspension
bridge to span a distance seven times that of an arch bridge? The answer lies
in how each bridge type deals with two important forces called compression and tension:
·
Compression is a force that
acts to compress or shorten the thing it is acting on.
·
Tension is a force that
acts to expand or lengthen the thing it is acting on.
A simple, everyday
example of compression and tension is a spring. When we press down, or push the
two ends of the spring together, we compress it. The force of compression
shortens the spring. When we pull up, or pull apart the two ends, we create
tension in the spring. The force of tension lengthens the spring.
Compression and
tension are present in all bridges, and it's the job of the bridge design to
handle these forces without buckling or snapping. Buckling is what happens when the force of compression overcomes
an object's ability to handle compression, and snapping is what happens when the force of tension overcomes an
object's ability to handle tension. The best way to deal with these forces is
to either dissipate them or transfer them. To dissipate force is to spread it out over a greater area, so that
no one spot has to bear the brunt of the concentrated force. To transfer force is to move it from an
area of weakness to an area of strength, an area designed to handle the force.
An arch bridge is a good example of dissipation, while a suspension bridge is a
good example of transference.