Bridges: Their Engineering and Planning

182 Pages·2015·1.583 MB·English

by  George C. Lee, Ernest Sternberg

BRIDGES

BRIDGES
their engineering and planning
including engineering basics, structures that keep
them up, hazards that threaten them, uses in
transportation, roles as American infrastructure,
costs and evaluation, environmental effects and
sustainability, and challenges of on-time delivery
George C. Lee
and Ernest Sternberg
Illustrated by
David C. Pierro
SUNY
P R E S S
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2015 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the
prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact
State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Laurie D. Searl
Marketing, Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lee, George C.
Bridges : their engineering and planning / George C. Lee and Ernest
S ternberg ; Illustrated by David C. Pierro.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5525-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5526-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5527-3 (ebook)
1. Bridges—Design and construction. 2. Bridges—Planning. I. Sternberg,
Ernest, 1953– II. Title.
TG300.L44 2015
624.2—dc23 2014013135
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In loving memory of Grace S. Lee,
to whom I owe all my accomplishments,
and who always cared about the education of students.
from George
To cousin Kati, of blessed memory,
who was killed in 1944 or 1945 when very young,
and could have become a builder of bridges.
from Ernie

CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
ix
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xiii
PART I: DECIDING ABOUT BRIDGES
CHAPTER ONE
Crossing the Bridge before We Get There 3
CHAPTER TWO
Counting Our Bridges 9
PART II: BRIDGE ENGINEERING
CHAPTER THREE
Understanding Stresses and Strains 21
CHAPTER FOUR
Bridge Types and Sites 37
CHAPTER FIVE
Making Strong Bridges: Dealing with Uncertainty 51
CHAPTER SIX
Resisting Extreme Events 63
PART III: BRIDGE PLANNING
CHAPTER SEVEN
Is It Worth It? Costs, Benefits, and Tough Decisions 83
CHAPTER EIGHT
Traffic across the Bridge 103
CONTENTS
viii
CHAPTER NINE
The Bridge in the Environment 123
CHAPTER TEN
Delivering the Bridge 137
PART IV: CONCLUSION
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A Bridge Spanning a Millennium 157
INDEX
163
TABLES AND FIGURES
TABLES
Table 2.1 U.S. Bridges by Length of Main Span, 2011 10
Table 2.2 Which metro areas have the most bridges?
Ranked by bridges per 100,000 population, 2010 11
Table 2.3 Public Bridges in the United States, 1992–2011 12
Table 2.4 Deficiency in Bridges, 2011 13
Table 2.5 Trends in Deficient Bridges 14
Table 2.6 Bridge Building by Year 16
Table 6.1 Causes of Bridge Failure, United States, 1980–2012 66
Table 7.1 Recommended Standard Values for Vehicle
Operation, State of Minnesota 86
Table 7.2 Costs and Benefits of a New Bridge in Constant $1000 89
Table 7.3 Net Present Value ($ millions) of New Bridge
Under Alternative Scenarios and Discount Rates 93
Table 7.4 Costs and Benefits of Long-Lasting New Bridge in
Constant $1000 95
Table 8.1 Four bridge congestion scenarios for Square City
during peak traffic hour 118
Table 10.1 Stages in a Major Public Projects in the United States 149
FIGURES
Figure 2.1 US Bridges in 2010 by Decade of Completion. 11
Figure 2.2 Trends in Travel by Metro Size. 15
Figure 3.1 A 100-kip load imposes more stress (causing strain)
on the thinner cylinder. 23
ix