Concrete bridge

File:Pont béton - Jardin des Plantes (Grenoble).jpg, poured concrete foorbridge, constructed 1855.]]

file:First concrete bridge in Britain.jpg, England, cast iron reinforced, constructed 1869-1870]]

File:Monier bridge Chazelet.jpg

File:Axmouth Old Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 2828303.jpg

Unreinforced concrete has been used in bridge construction since antiquity: the Romans incorporated concrete cores into a number of their masonry bridges and aqueducts, along with constructing spanning water conduits of concrete.{{Cite web |last=Labate |first=Victor |title=Roman Engineering |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Engineering/ |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Expedition Magazine {{!}} Roman Aqueducts |url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/roman-aqueducts/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Expedition Magazine |language=en}}{{Citation |title=Roman Concrete: Foundations of an Empire |date=2018 |work=How Transformative Innovations Shaped the Rise of Nations: From Ancient Rome to Modern America |pages=37–66 |editor-last=Tellis |editor-first=Gerard |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/how-transformative-innovations-shaped-the-rise-of-nations/roman-concrete-foundations-of-an-empire/A0EDDA626D7CA8CDCE6599FB33179A3B |access-date=2024-06-04 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-78308-794-5 |editor2-last=Rosenzweig |editor2-first=Stav}} From the late 18th century cast iron framed bridges may have had an unreinforced cast concrete deck, or had their structure encased in concrete, for example the Homersfield Bridge, constructed between 1869 and 1870, between the English counties of Suffolk and Norfolk.{{Cite web |title=Homersfield Bridge |url=https://www.historicnorfolk.org.uk/homersfield-bridge |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Historic Norfolk |language=en}} In 1873, Frenchman Joseph Monier obtained a French patent for a method of iron-wire reinforced concrete bridge construction;{{Cite web|title=Joseph Monier|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Monier|access-date=2022-09-30|website=britannica.com}} his first iron-wire reinforced concrete bridge was constructed across the moat of the marquis de Tillièrein's :fr:Château de Chazelet, in 1875.{{cite web |title=The world's first reinforced concrete bridge |url=https://www.chateau-chazelet.com/en/newpagee87b9f8e |website=www.chateau-chazelet.com |access-date=13 February 2023 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The world's first reinforced concrete bridge |url=https://www.chateau-chazelet.com/en/newpagee87b9f8e |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.chateau-chazelet.com |language=en}} This and all later bridges made according to Monier's system patterned{{clarify|date=May 2024}} the construction of previously used stone bridges. Their main structural unit was an arch barrel. All barrel sections were reinforced similarly, regardless of the forces acting on it.

The longest steel reinforced bridge, in 2024, is the {{convert|600|m}} Tian'e Longtan Bridge, Guangxi Zhuang, China.{{Cite web |title=Tian'e Longtan Bridge - HighestBridges.com |url=https://www.highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tian%27e_Longtan_Bridge |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=www.highestbridges.com}}

The US's longest unreinforced concrete span, is the {{convert|200|ft}} arch of the, 1910, Rocky River Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio.{{Cite web |title=Rocky River Bridge, Rocky River Ohio |url=https://www.historic-structures.com/oh/rocky_river/rocky_river_bridge.php |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Historic Structures |language=en-us}}

Early extant examples include:

• Savisilta "clay bridge", Ylivieska, the second oldest concrete bridge in Finland. (reinforced concrete, constructed 1912).

• Pont du jardin des plantes, Grenoble, foorbridge (cast concrete, constructed 1855)
• Bridge across the moat at Château de Chazelet (iron-wire reinforced concrete, constructed 1875)

• Homersfield Bridge, River Waveney, England (cast and wrought iron reinforced, span {{convert|50|ft}}, constructed 1869-1870)
• Axmouth Bridge, on the River Axe at Seaton, Devon (unreinforced, middle span {{convert|50|ft}}, opened 1877){{Cite web |title=Heritage Locations |url=https://www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/axmouth-bridge-seaton |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk}}
• Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scotland (unreinforced, twenty-one {{convert|50|ft}} spans, constructed 1897–1901)
• Waterloo Bridge (reinforced cast concrete, longest span {{convert|233|ft}}, opened 1942){{Cite web|title=Waterloo Bridge|url=https://ar-tour.com/guides/waterloo-bridge-in-london/waterloo-bridge.aspx|access-date=2022-09-30|website=ar-tour.com}}

• Alvord Lake Bridge, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (reinforced concrete, {{convert|29|ft}} span, 1889).{{Cite web |title=Alvord Lake Bridge {{!}} Hensolt SEAONC Legacy Project |url=https://legacy.seaonc.org/structure/alvord-lake-bridge/ |access-date=2024-05-30 |language=en-US}}
• Walnut Lane Bridge, Philadelphia, PA (unreinforced concrete, {{convert|233|ft}} span, 1908)
• Rocky River Bridge, Cleveland, Ohio (unreinforced concrete, {{convert|280|ft}} span, 1910)

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Category:Bridges

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