Arch thrust
Load descends onto the crown of an open-spandrel arch and turns into horizontal thrust, the reaction arrows drawing outward at the springings as compression runs down the ring.
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Bridges
15 animationsBalanced cantilever
Deck segments are cast in balanced pairs outward from the pier until the two closure pours join the cantilever tips to the abutment stubs.
CSSBearing rotation
Live load on the span turns the deck end on its laminated elastomeric bearing, the accent wedge between the horizontal datum and the rotated soffit opening and closing with the angle.
CSSBox girder torsion
An eccentric load walks across a closed box girder section, twisting the cell about its centroid while shear flow runs around the cell walls and reverses with the torque.
CSSExpansion joint
The teeth of a finger expansion joint withdraw and interleave as the deck comb runs in and out, the accent band marking the gap opening and closing over a temperature cycle.
CSSGirder deflection
A wheel load tracks across a simply supported plate girder and the deflected shape follows it, sagging deepest under the load and recovering at the supports.
CSSLoad rating
Axles step onto a rated span one at a time and the demand bar climbs with them, crossing the posted rating line on the heaviest configuration before the load leaves again.
CSSPrestress camber
Draped strands are stressed in stages and hog a precast girder off the datum, then the deck slab is lowered on and presses the camber back down to level.
CSSSeismic isolator
A laminated lead-rubber bearing shears back and forth under ground motion while a marker runs once around its hysteresis loop for every shear cycle.
CSSSliding bearing
A PTFE sliding bearing carries a deck that grows and shrinks through a thermal cycle, the upper plate travelling over the sliding surface while the movement gauge above reads the same travel.
CSSSpan continuity
A load crosses a two-span continuous deck and the bending moment diagram swings with it, sagging under the load and peaking as a hog over the central pier.
CSSStay cable fan
A fan of stay cables takes tension in sequence outward from the pylon, each pair drawing down to its deck anchorage and releasing again as the next pair picks the load up.
CSSSuspension hangers
Deck load runs up the hangers into the main cable, a wave of hanger tension travelling outward from midspan to the towers and back.
CSSTied arch
A bowstring arch closes its own force loop, a compression pulse running down the rib and a tension pulse chasing it back along the tie so the supports carry vertical reaction only.
CSSTruss force reversal
A load crosses a counter-braced deck truss and the diagonals swap duty behind it, the accent moving from one set of web members to the opposing set as the force reverses.
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