The Anatomy of Bridgework. William Henry Thorpe

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       William Henry Thorpe

      The Anatomy of Bridgework

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4064066234959

Table of Contents

       PREFACE

       CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.

       Girder Bearings.

       CHAPTER II. MAIN GIRDERS; PLATE-WEBS.

       Main Girders; Open Webs.

       CHAPTER III. BRIDGE FLOORS.

       CHAPTER IV. BRACING.

       CHAPTER V. RIVETED CONNECTIONS.

       CHAPTER VI. HIGH STRESS.

       CHAPTER VII. DEFORMATIONS.

       CHAPTER VIII. DEFLECTIONS.

       CHAPTER IX. DECAY AND PAINTING.

       CHAPTER X. EXAMINATION, REPAIR, AND STRENGTHENING OF RIVETED BRIDGES.

       CHAPTER XI. STRENGTHENING OF RIVETED BRIDGES BY CENTRE GIRDERS.

       CHAPTER XII. CAST-IRON BRIDGES.

       CHAPTER XIII. TIMBER BRIDGES.

       CHAPTER XIV. MASONRY BRIDGES.

       CHAPTER XV. LIFE OF BRIDGES—RELATIVE MERITS.

       CHAPTER XVI. RECONSTRUCTION AND WIDENING—CONCLUSION.

       Conclusion.

       INDEX

PREFACE

       Table of Contents

      In offering this little book to the reader interested in Bridgework, the author desires to express his acknowledgments to the proprietors of “Engineering,” in which journal the papers first appeared, for their courtesy in facilitating the production in book form.

      It may possibly happen that the scanning of these pages will induce others to observe and collect information extending our knowledge of this subject—information which, while familiar to maintenance engineers of experience, has not been so readily available as is desirable.

      No theory which fails to stand the test of practical working can maintain its claims to regard; the study of the behaviour of old work has, therefore, a high educational value, and tends to the occasional correction of views which might otherwise be complacently retained.

      60 Winsham Street,

       Clapham Common, London, S.W.

       October, 1906.

      THE

       ANATOMY OF BRIDGEWORK.

CHAPTER I.

       INTRODUCTION.

       Table of Contents

      No book has, so far as the author is aware, been written upon that aspect of bridgework to be treated in the following pages. No excuse need, therefore, be given for adding to the already large amount of published matter dealing with bridges. Indeed, as it too often happens that the designing of such constructions, and their after-maintenance, are in this country entirely separated, it cannot but be useful to give such results of the behaviour of bridges, whether new or old, as have come under observation.

      In the early days of metallic bridges there was of necessity no experience available to guide the engineer in his endeavour to avoid objectionable features in design, and he was, as a result, compelled to rely upon his own foresight and judgment in any attempt to anticipate the effects of those influences to which his work might later be subject. How heavily handicapped he must have been under these conditions is evident from the mass of information since acquired by the experimental study of the behaviour of metals under stress, and the growth of the literature of bridgework during the last forty years. That many mistakes were made is little occasion for surprise; rather is it a cause for admiration that some very fine bridges, still in use, were the product of that time. Much may be learned from the study of defects and failures, even though they be of such a character that no experienced designer would now furnish like examples.

      Modern instances may, none the less, be found, with faults repeated, which should long since have disappeared from all bridgework, and are only to be accounted for by the unnatural divorce of design and maintenance already referred to. As the reader proceeds, it may appear that details are occasionally touched upon of a character altogether too crude and objectionable to need comment; but the consideration of these cases is none the less interesting, and, so far as the author’s observation goes, not altogether unnecessary.

      Most of the instances cited are of bridges, or parts of bridges, of quite small dimensions; but it is these which most commonly give trouble, both because the effects of impact are in such cases most severely felt, and possibly because the smaller class of bridges is very generally designed by men of less experience, than large and imposing structures.

      The particulars given relate in all cases to bridges of wrought iron, unless otherwise described.

      An endeavour has been made to secure some kind of order in dealing with the subject, but it has been found difficult to avoid a somewhat disjointed treatment, inseparable, perhaps, from the nature of the matter. Finally, the reader may be assured that every case quoted has come under the writer’s personal notice.

Girder Bearings.

       Table of Contents

      In girder-work generally, and more