THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRIDGE

BY

This short article will help the reader to understand why Bridges vary so greatly in design, and what are some of the problems that the Bridge engineer has to solve.

THE art of bridge construction was probably the genesis of civil engineering, the principles of the beam and the a.rch being understood and made use of by the Ancients, particularly the Romans, some of "*vhose bridge structures survive to this day. But the greater capacity of iron and steel, combined with the knowledge gained since their introduction, has enabled us to achieve Results that would have been impossible in tfc.e days of stone and timber.