Bridge Capacity

by Mohammad Alqahtani

Submitted : Fall 2017

Over time, the need for stronger bridges has been on the rise along with the increased demand for bridges following the expansion of the transport sector into areas that may not be completely made of land. There is a need for the construction of stronger bridges since that will be able to withstand strong winds, freezing, thawing, and earthquakes. Humans first made bridges that were basically spans of wooden logs or planks cut from trees, and stones which created simple supports hence a crossbeam arrangement that formed the early bridges. The construction of bridges is, therefore, an area that requires investment in order to better the overall infrastructure of the country since they play a big role in the movement of the nation.

In the generation of this project, this particular need was taken into consideration, this project aims at looking into finding a solution for linking two regions of land that are separated by a water body. Featuring a suspension bridge, several factors were taken into consideration such as the type of land in existence where the bridge is to be constructed, the purpose, and the cost of the bridge. Suspension bridges require the application of the parabolic curve from mathematics, the parabola equation proved extremely useful in the development of this project. In addition, through the use of calculus, calculations concerning the suspension bridge were analyzed and details of the bridge obtained. This assured the construction of a strong bridge that would withstand heavy loading and even adverse weather conditions. The results obtained were then discussed and analyzed so as to figure out the exact type and amount of material that would be required for the construction.

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