The Physics of Bridges

The Physics of Bridges Bridges are a very important part of everyday life. They can save hours in traveling time each day or connect to pieces of land together. The everyday man may not appreciate them but they are by engineers and fans of physics. Bridges are perfect examples of physics. There are different types of bridges, each with a specific purpose. The ones that we chose to talk about are beam, arches, and suspension …

…transmit asymmetrical loads to the abutments without undue torsion. Bending would seem to be easy top explain, but it isn’t. If you bend a long rectangular rubber eraser it tends to bend in two different axes. This effect is very small for structural materials, but we do need to remember that bending a beam causes compression on one side and tension on the other. There is a neutral surface where the length remains unchanged.