Bridge Vocabulary

Abutment

• A force that squeezes material together

• A force that stretches material apart

• the supports at each end of the bridge

• the roadway of the bridge

Arch bridge

• one of the oldest bridge designs; great natural strength; the peak is called the keystone

• Roadways are hung from above the bridge; most expensive bridge

• A horizontal beam supported at each end by piers; simplest bridge

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Deck

• natural cement

• weight of the traffic crossing the bridge

• the roadway of the bridge

• actual weight of materials that make up the bridge

cantilever

• bridges made of a combination of 3 types of bridges

• a strong framework of straight sections of metal joined together at their ends forming triangles

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• structures that project horizontally and supported only at one end

span

• An action that twists a material

• when a straight material becomes curved

• the distance from one support of a bridge to the next

• the roadway of the bridge

cofferdam

• a temporary, watertight circular dam that allows foundation work to be done in a riverbed

• Used to reinforce concrete

• natural cement

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torsion

• a force that causes one material to slide past another in opposite directions

• A force that squeezes a material

• an action that twists a material

• a force that stretches a material

a bridge made using a combination of 3 types of bridges

• composite bridge

• beam bridge

• suspension bridge

• cable-stayed bridge

Live load

• roadway of the bridge

• weight of the traffic that cross the bridge; changes all the time

• weight of the materials that make up the bridge; it never changes

• deck

Cable-stayed bridge

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