Truss Bridge
As said by Ed Grabianowski, “Although the general physics of bridge-building have been established for thousands of years, every bridge presents complicated factors that must be taken into consideration, such as the geology of the surrounding area, the amount of traffic, weather and construction materials.”. When building a bridge an engineer must consider all possible factors that may affect the bridge. Normal environmental factors such as changes temperature, precipitation, and winds must be taken under consideration. Along with environmental factors that are beyond normal weather conditions, factors such as sudden gusts of wind and earthquakes. Environmental factors also known as environmental loads are loads induced by external …show more content…
“Geological and geotechnical applications take a significant place in designing and constructing the coastal structures. Geological factors bear significance as regards to the soil and construction material. This condition strongly affects the selection of structural type and structural cost. It is important, in the sense of safety and economics, that geological, geotechnical, and construction material investigations should be conducted by a team of experts on the specifications of coastal structures” (Alana Marina1). If the conditions of where you decide to put a truss bridge are harsh, the more money you may need to be able to build and create your bridge to withstand the conditions they may be in. However the most common truss bridge that is used is the warren truss bridge. Most engineers create this type of bridge because it is considered the easiest to design and one of the stronger bridges that are able to be structured. “The Warren Truss was patented by James Warren in 1848. It has been around a while. It is one of the most popular bridge designs and examples of it can be found everywhere in the world. The Warren Truss uses equilateral triangles to spread out the loads on the bridge. This is opposed to the Neville Truss which used isosceles triangles. The equilateral triangles minimize the forces to only compression and tension. Interestingly, as a load (such as a car or train) moves across the bridge sometimes the forces for a member switch from compression to tension. This happens especially to the members near the center of the bridge” (Garrett Boon1). The Warren Truss Bridge in Minnesota is a prime example of how strong the warren truss bridge actually is. It helps based on the fact that the bridge is made of iron, steel and concrete. But what makes the Warren Truss Bridge is its ability to endure all four seasons. The climate in