Structural Engineering Slide Library

Fixed arches: modern

	Image-GoddenB60 Southwark Bridge. This bridge across the River Thames in London consists of five fixed arch spans, each having seven arch ribs. The spans vary between 126 and 136 ft. in length. Constructed in 1921. (London, England.)
	Image-GoddenB61 Southwark Bridge. Close-up of arch rib. Arches are constructed as built-up riveted steel I-sections. Note the transverse bracing between the ribs to prevent lateral buckling of the arches. (London, England.)
	Image-GoddenB62 Southwark Bridge. Detail of fixed bearing at the end abutment. (London, England.)
	Image-GoddenB63 Alexander Hamilton Bridge. Fixed arch bearing. From relative stiffness of road-level girder and arch rib, arches will take most of the moment and shear as well as the thrust. Note transverse bracing between arch ribs. Bridge in background is 2-hinged Washington Traffic Bridge. (New York City)
	Image-GoddenB64 Henry Hudson Bridge, junction of Harlem River and Hudson River. This long-span steel fixed arch bridge carries two levels of highway. The span consists of two riveted plate girders, the flanges consisting of twin I-beams. (New York City)
	Image-GoddenB65 Henry Hudson Bridge, junction of Harlem River and Hudson River. Detail of fixed bearing. Careful study of this slide will show many of the design details of the arch rib, bearing, and spandrel members. (New York City)
	Image-GoddenB66 Footbridge over freeway. Note that the loading on this fixed concrete arch bridge is concentrated towards the crown of the arch. (Vienna, Austria)
	Image-GoddenB67 Fursteuland Bridge over the River Sitter. This fixed reinforced concrete arch, crossing the valley in a single 135-meter span, should be compared with the multi-span masonry railway viaduct that can be seen from the same location. See also GoddenB17. (St. Gallen, Switzerland)
	Image-GoddenB68 Fursteuland Bridge over the River Sitter. Detail of the underside of structure shown in GoddenB67, showing the spandrel frames which support the road level box girder and also act as transverse bracing for the arch ribs. (St. Gallen, Switzerland)
	Image-GoddenB69 Russian Gulch Bridge, Highway 1. Fixed 527 ft. span reinforced concrete arch highway bridge consisting of two parallel arch ribs loaded by vertical columns, and with vierendeel-type bracing to resist wind and lateral buckling. (California)
	Image-GoddenB70 Russian Gulch Bridge, Highway 1. Shows fixed anchorage in rock. Fixed arches, being sensitive to support settlement are often used when rock anchorages are possible. (California)
	Image-GoddenB71 Russian Gulch Bridge, Highway 1. Looking from one abutment through the spandrel columns. Note the transverse bracing of the columns and also the transverse arch rib bracing. (California)
	Image-GoddenB72 Bixby Creek Bridge, south of Carmel. Highway 1 has many interesting bridges, especially where the road is high above sea level. This fixed reinforced concrete arch bridge spans 714 ft. across a deep river valley. (California, Highway 1)
	Image-GoddenB72.1 Bixby Creek Bridge, south of Carmel. View from the cliff top in the background in GoddenB72 (California, Highway 1)
	Image-GoddenB72.2 Viamala Bridge over the Hinterrhine on the road to the San Bernardino Pass, Switzerland. This bridge, together with those in GoddenB72.3-B72.5 are slender fixed arch highway bridges, designed by Professor Christian Menn, and notable for their structural efficiency and fine aesthetics. The slenderness of the arch ribs is accomplished partly by using a continuous concrete box section at deck level as a stiffening girder to provide overall flexural stiffness. (San Bernardino Pass, Switzerland)
	Image-GoddenB72.3 Two slender fixed arch concrete highway bridges, crossing the Moesa Torrent, on the San Bernardino Pass road, Switzerland. Designed by Professor Christian Menn, they are fine examples of modern concrete bridge design. Arch span: 112 meters, column spacing on both approaches: 17 meters. Scale of the structure can be seen from the figure, bottom left. (San Bernardino Pass, Switzerland.)
	Image-GoddenB72.4 Close-up of one of the bridges in GoddenB72.3, taken from one end. The arch ribs and shallow box girder of the deck structure are 4 meters wide, the spandrel columns slightly less. The 9-meter width of the roadway is achieved by continuous concrete cantilever slabs on each side of the box girder. (San Bernardino Pass, Switzerland)
	Image-GoddenB72.5 View of both bridges of GoddenB72.3 in their larger setting, looking back down the valley where the road winds its way from side to side across the river. Both bridges have a 6.2% slope. (San Bernardino Pass, Switzerland)
	Image-GoddenB72.6 Gotteron Bridge, Fribourg, Switzerland. A general view of this bridge can be seen in GoddenD17.1. Twin fixed reinforced concrete arch ribs spanning between the cliff faces of a rock gorge. Note that the overall flexural stiffness of the system is shared between the arch ribs and the continuous deck beams, unlike the bridge of GoddenB72.7. The first bridge on this site was a cable suspension bridge, built in 1834 and collapsed in 1919. (Fribourg, Switzerland)
	Image-GoddenB72.7 Twin fixed concrete arch highway bridges over the Selah Creek, Yakima, Washington. Comparing this design with those of GoddenB72.1- B72.5 shows that in this example the arch ribs are substantially heavier. The design of the columns and deck beam systems indicates that the bridge decks are not designed to take overall longitudinal bending, and hence this has to be taken by the arch ribs. (Yakima, Washinton)
	Image-GoddenB72.8 Rogue River Bridge, Gold Beach, Oregon. Continuous multi-span arch structure across the mouth of the Rogue River. Arches are both continuous and fixed at the piers, but each appears to have an internal hinge at the crown with an equivalent discontinuity in the deck structure. (Gold Beach, Oregon)
	Image-GoddenB73 Paul Sauer Bridge. National Road link between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. This bridge is a 450 ft. span fixed concrete arch. Note the variation in arch rib section, and that the spandrel columns are not vertical in this case producing an axial force in the road-level girder (slide donated). (South Africa)

Set B: Arch Structures