That’s the Turn-of-River Bridge in Stamford, Connecticut. (Photo courtesy of Magicpiano.) Putting aside anything I have to say about the structure, that’s a fantastic name for a bridge. It’s (obviously) quite small and has been converted from a road bridge to a footbridge on a trail, but it’s looking okay for a neglected 1893 bridge. …
Structural engineering for buildings may be generally hidden, but there are a lot of exceptions. I’ll exclude exposed wood joists in small buildings from being exceptions since those buildings were not, until relatively recently, designed by engineers. But, for example, plenty of concrete factories have exposed structure (albeit opaque structure that is difficult for non-engineers …
The spidery-thin bridge structures I’ve highlighted here have mostly been trusses of various types. Here’s a spidery suspension bridge: not only are the cables thin (it’s a shortish span) but so are the stiffening truss members and, notably, the truss-work towers. It’s the old bridge over the Little Colorado River at Cameron, Arizona. Unfortunately, HAER …
The history of this bridge is so ordinary, so common for bridges of its era, that it’s hard to find anything unique. Steel trusses bridges were constructed for roads and rail all over the US for decades, and honestly not all of them are unique. Saying that is, of course, not the same thing as …
There is never a single answer in structural engineering. There are multiple answers to any design problem and the trick is to find one that works, in terms of design criteria, buildability, economics, and coordination with design factors other than structure. With that in mind, I absolutely love the magazine page above. It’s page iv …
