110-592: Cobden Bridge is a major road bridge in Southampton , UK . It crosses the River Itchen joining the suburbs of St Denys and Bitterne Park . It forms part of the A3035 . The present bridge dates from 1928, but there has been a bridge on this site since 1883. The National Liberal Land Company purchased the land that is now Bitterne Park in 1882, and began developing it for residential purposes. An iron bridge
220-600: A bridge-restaurant which is a bridge built to serve as a restaurant. Other suspension bridge towers carry transmission antennas. Conservationists use wildlife overpasses to reduce habitat fragmentation and animal-vehicle collisions. The first animal bridges sprung up in France in the 1950s, and these types of bridges are now used worldwide to protect both large and small wildlife. Bridges are subject to unplanned uses as well. The areas underneath some bridges have become makeshift shelters and homes to homeless people, and
330-416: A 16 feet (4.9 m)-wide carriageway with a 6 feet (1.8 m)-wide footway on both sides. In all the bridge contained 287 short tons (260 t) of wrought iron and 191 short tons (173 t) of cast iron. The engineer was Corbet Woodall of Westminster. The bridge was the site of several clashes between local gangs soon after opening. A new five arch concrete bridge, vastly superior to its predecessor,
440-525: A bridge is to be designed, standards authorities specify simplified notional load models, notably HL-93, intended to give the same load effects as the characteristic maximum values. The Eurocode is an example of a standard for bridge traffic loading that was developed in this way. Most bridge standards are only applicable for short and medium spans - for example, the Eurocode is only applicable for loaded lengths up to 200 m. Longer spans are dealt with on
550-418: A card at the start of the game; the player who draws the highest card deals first. The second highest card becomes the dealer's partner and takes the chair on the opposite side of the table. They play against the other two. The deck is shuffled and cut, usually by the player to the left of the dealer, before dealing. Players take turns to deal, in clockwise order. The dealer deals the cards clockwise, one card at
660-471: A case-by-case basis. It is generally accepted that the intensity of load reduces as span increases because the probability of many trucks being closely spaced and extremely heavy reduces as the number of trucks involved increases. It is also generally assumed that short spans are governed by a small number of trucks traveling at high speed, with an allowance for dynamics. Longer spans on the other hand, are governed by congested traffic and no allowance for dynamics
770-422: A certain combination of high cards), although some are common between the two. A larger bonus is awarded if the declaring side makes a small slam or grand slam, a contract of 12 or 13 tricks respectively. If the declaring side is not vulnerable, a small slam gets 500 points, and a grand slam 1000 points. If the declaring side is vulnerable, a small slam is 750 points and a grand slam is 1,500. In rubber bridge,
880-480: A combination of structural health monitoring and testing. This is regulated in country-specific engineer standards and includes an ongoing monitoring every three to six months, a simple test or inspection every two to three years and a major inspection every six to ten years. In Europe, the cost of maintenance is considerable and is higher in some countries than spending on new bridges. The lifetime of welded steel bridges can be significantly extended by aftertreatment of
990-400: A contract in hearts or spades. For a contract in notrump, the declaring side is awarded 40 points for the first odd trick and 30 points for the remaining odd tricks. Contract points are doubled or quadrupled if the contract is respectively doubled or redoubled. In rubber bridge, a partnership wins one game once it has accumulated 100 contract points; excess contract points do not carry over to
1100-399: A different site, and re-used. They are important in military engineering and are also used to carry traffic while an old bridge is being rebuilt. Movable bridges are designed to move out of the way of boats or other kinds of traffic, which would otherwise be too tall to fit. These are generally electrically powered. The Tank bridge transporter (TBT) has the same cross-country performance as
1210-606: A few will predominate. The separation of forces and moments may be quite clear. In a suspension or cable-stayed bridge , the elements in tension are distinct in shape and placement. In other cases the forces may be distributed among a large number of members, as in a truss. The world's longest beam bridge is Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in southern Louisiana in the United States, at 23.83 miles (38.35 km), with individual spans of 56 feet (17 m). Beam bridges are
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#17327978820601320-507: A game called "La Triomphe" in one of his works. Also Juan Luis Vives , in his Linguae latinae exercitio (Exercise in the Latin language) of 1539 has a dialogue on card games, where the characters play 'Triumphus hispanicus' (Spanish Triumph). Bridge departed from whist with the creation of "Biritch" in the 19th century and evolved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to form the present game. The first rule book for bridge, dated 1886,
1430-422: A good final contract in the auction (or deciding to let the opponents declare the contract). This is a difficult problem: the two players in a partnership must try to communicate enough information about their hands to arrive at a makeable contract, but the information they can exchange is restricted – information may be passed only by the calls made and later by the cards played, not by other means; in addition,
1540-458: A meaning that reflects the call; a natural bid intuitively showing hand or suit strength based on the level or suit of the bid, and a natural double expressing that the player believes that the opposing partnership will not make their contract. By contrast, a conventional (artificial) call offers and/or asks for information by means of pre-agreed coded interpretations, in which some calls convey very specific information or requests that are not part of
1650-399: A player bids, doubles, or redoubles, every other player has passed, in which case the action proceeds to the play; or every player has passed and no bid has been made, in which case the round is considered to be "passed out" and not played. The player from the declaring side who first bid the denomination named in the final contract becomes declarer. The player left to the declarer leads to
1760-610: A prominent Liberal politician . Cobden was notable as a campaigner for free trade , and formed the Anti-Corn Law League . The bridge was opened on 27 June 1883 by Thorold Rogers , another Liberal politician and friend of Cobden, who was also chairman of the Land Company. The original bridge had five spans of 72 feet 6 inches (22.10 m) with headway below the bridge of 15 feet (4.6 m) at high water and 27 feet (8.2 m) at low water. The bridge
1870-567: A published standard is The Laws of Rubber Bridge as published by the American Contract Bridge League. The majority of rules mirror those of duplicate bridge in the bidding and play and differ primarily in procedures for dealing and scoring. In 2001, the WBF promulgated a set of laws for online play. Bridge is a game of skill played with randomly dealt cards, which makes it also a game of chance , or more exactly,
1980-561: A simple type of suspension bridge , were used by the Inca civilization in the Andes mountains of South America, just prior to European colonization in the 16th century. The Ashanti built bridges over streams and rivers . They were constructed by pounding four large forked tree trunks into the stream bed, placing beams along these forked pillars, then positioning cross-beams that were finally covered with four to six inches of dirt. During
2090-593: A span of 552 m (1,811 ft). The bridge was opened 29 April 2009, in Chongqing , China. The longest suspension bridge in the world is the 4,608 m (15,118 ft) 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey. The longest cable-stayed bridge since 2012 is the 1,104 m (3,622 ft) Russky Bridge in Vladivostok , Russia. Some Engineers sub-divide 'beam' bridges into slab, beam-and-slab and box girder on
2200-749: A stream. Often in palaces, a bridge will be built over an artificial waterway as symbolic of a passage to an important place or state of mind. A set of five bridges cross a sinuous waterway in an important courtyard of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The central bridge was reserved exclusively for the use of the Emperor and Empress, with their attendants. The estimated life of bridges varies between 25 and 80 years depending on location and material. Bridges may age hundred years with proper maintenance and rehabilitation. Bridge maintenance consisting of
2310-411: A suit, the ace is ranked highest followed by the king, queen and jack and then the ten through to the two. In a deal where the auction has determined that there is no trump suit, the trick must be won by a card of the suit led. In a deal with a trump suit, cards of that suit are superior in rank to any of the cards of any other suit. If one or more players plays a trump to a trick when void in the suit led,
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#17327978820602420-409: A tactical game with inbuilt randomness, imperfect knowledge and restricted communication. The chance element is in the deal of the cards; in duplicate bridge some of the chance element is eliminated by comparing results of multiple pairs in identical situations. This is achievable when there are eight or more players, sitting at two or more tables, and the deals from each table are preserved and passed to
2530-489: A tank even when fully loaded. It can deploy, drop off and load bridges independently, but it cannot recover them. Double-decked (or double-decker) bridges have two levels, such as the George Washington Bridge , connecting New York City to Bergen County , New Jersey , US, as the world's busiest bridge, carrying 102 million vehicles annually; truss work between the roadway levels provided stiffness to
2640-466: A time. Normally, rubber bridge is played with two packs of cards and whilst one pack is being dealt, the dealer's partner shuffles the other pack. After shuffling the pack is placed on the right ready for the next dealer. Before dealing, the next dealer passes the cards to the previous dealer who cuts them. In duplicate bridge the cards are pre-dealt, either by hand or by a computerized dealing machine, in order to allow for competitive scoring. Once dealt,
2750-489: A very large number of conventions from which players can choose; many books have been written detailing bidding conventions. Well-known conventions include Stayman (to ask the opening 1NT bidder to show any four-card major suit), Jacoby transfers (a request by (usually) the weak hand for the partner to bid a particular suit first, and therefore to become the declarer), and the Blackwood convention (to ask for information on
2860-639: Is Biritch, or Russian Whist written by John Collinson, an English financier working in Ottoman Constantinople . It and his subsequent letter to The Saturday Review dated 28 May 1906, document the origin of Biritch as being the Russian community in Constantinople. The word biritch is thought to be a transliteration of the Russian word Бирюч (бирчий, бирич), an occupation of a diplomatic clerk or an announcer. Another theory
2970-462: Is a bridge that carries water, resembling a viaduct, which is a bridge that connects points of equal height. A road-rail bridge carries both road and rail traffic. Overway is a term for a bridge that separates incompatible intersecting traffic, especially road and rail. Some bridges accommodate other purposes, such as the tower of Nový Most Bridge in Bratislava , which features a restaurant, or
3080-588: Is an early example of a double-decked bridge. The upper level carries a railway, and the lower level is used for road traffic. Other examples include Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and Craigavon Bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö consists of a four-lane highway on the upper level and a pair of railway tracks at the lower level. Tower Bridge in London
3190-564: Is assigned to each seat, so that one partnership sits in North and South, while the other sits in West and East. The cards may be freshly dealt or, in duplicate bridge games, pre-dealt. All that is needed in basic games are the cards and a method of keeping score, but there is often other equipment on the table, such as a board containing the cards to be played (in duplicate bridge), bidding boxes , or screens . In rubber bridge each player draws
3300-468: Is at the heart of bidding in bridge. A number of basic rules of thumb in bridge bidding and play are summarized as bridge maxims . A bidding system is a set of partnership agreements on the meanings of bids. A partnership's bidding system is usually made up of a core system, modified and complemented by specific conventions (optional customizations incorporated into the main system for handling specific bidding situations) which are pre-chosen between
3410-496: Is different example of a double-decked bridge, with the central section consisting of a low-level bascule span and a high-level footbridge . A viaduct is made up of multiple bridges connected into one longer structure. The longest and some of the highest bridges are viaducts, such as the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and Millau Viaduct . A multi-way bridge has three or more separate spans which meet near
Cobden Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-417: Is led by architects, bridges are usually designed by engineers. This follows from the importance of the engineering requirements; namely spanning the obstacle and having the durability to survive, with minimal maintenance, in an aggressive outdoor environment. Bridges are first analysed; the bending moment and shear force distributions are calculated due to the applied loads. For this, the finite element method
3630-540: Is needed. Calculating the loading due to congested traffic remains a challenge as there is a paucity of data on inter-vehicle gaps, both within-lane and inter-lane, in congested conditions. Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems provide data on inter-vehicle gaps but only operate well in free flowing traffic conditions. Some authors have used cameras to measure gaps and vehicle lengths in jammed situations and have inferred weights from lengths using WIM data. Others have used microsimulation to generate typical clusters of vehicles on
3740-419: Is no difference in score between a 1 ♠ and a 7 ♠ final bid, as the bonus for rubber, small slam or grand slam depends on the number of tricks taken rather than the number of tricks bid. The modern game of contract bridge was the result of innovations to the scoring of auction bridge by Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and others. The most significant change was that only the tricks contracted for were scored below
3850-526: Is played in clubs and tournaments, which can gather as many as several hundred players. Duplicate bridge is a mind sport , and its popularity gradually became comparable to that of chess , with which it is often compared for its complexity and the mental skills required for high-level competition. Bridge and chess are the only "mind sports" recognized by the International Olympic Committee , although they were not found eligible for
3960-552: Is that British soldiers invented the game bridge while serving in the Crimean War , and named it after the Galata Bridge , which they crossed on their way to a coffeehouse to play cards. Biritch had many significant bridge-like developments: dealer chose the trump suit, or nominated his partner to do so; there was a call of "no trumps" ( biritch ); dealer's partner's hand became dummy; points were scored above and below
4070-737: Is the most popular. The analysis can be one-, two-, or three-dimensional. For the majority of bridges, a two-dimensional plate model (often with stiffening beams) is sufficient or an upstand finite element model. On completion of the analysis, the bridge is designed to resist the applied bending moments and shear forces, section sizes are selected with sufficient capacity to resist the stresses. Many bridges are made of prestressed concrete which has good durability properties, either by pre-tensioning of beams prior to installation or post-tensioning on site. In most countries, bridges, like other structures, are designed according to Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) principles. In simple terms, this means that
4180-642: The Hellenistic era can be found in the Peloponnese. The greatest bridge builders of antiquity were the ancient Romans . The Romans built arch bridges and aqueducts that could stand in conditions that would damage or destroy earlier designs, some of which still stand today. An example is the Alcántara Bridge , built over the river Tagus , in Spain. The Romans also used cement, which reduced
4290-864: The University of Minnesota ). Likewise, in Toronto , the Prince Edward Viaduct has five lanes of motor traffic, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks on its upper deck; and a pair of tracks for the Bloor–Danforth subway line on its lower deck. The western span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge also has two levels. Robert Stephenson 's High Level Bridge across the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne , completed in 1849,
4400-431: The contract , specifying how many tricks the partnership receiving the contract (the declaring side) needs to take to receive points for the deal. During the auction, partners use their bids to exchange information about their hands, including overall strength and distribution of the suits; no other means of conveying or implying any information is permitted. The cards are then played , the declaring side trying to fulfill
4510-504: The river Severn . With the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems of wrought iron were developed for larger bridges, but iron does not have the tensile strength to support large loads. With the advent of steel, which has a high tensile strength, much larger bridges were built, many using the ideas of Gustave Eiffel . In Canada and the United States, numerous timber covered bridges were built in
Cobden Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-527: The 13th century BC, in the Peloponnese is one of the oldest arch bridges in existence and use. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of the word bridge to an Old English word brycg , of the same meaning. The Oxford English Dictionary also notes that there is some suggestion that the word can be traced directly back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēw-. However, they also note that "this poses semantic problems." The origin of
4730-523: The 18th century, there were many innovations in the design of timber bridges by Hans Ulrich Grubenmann , Johannes Grubenmann , as well as others. The first book on bridge engineering was written by Hubert Gautier in 1716. A major breakthrough in bridge technology came with the erection of the Iron Bridge in Shropshire, England in 1779. It used cast iron for the first time as arches to cross
4840-702: The American Whist League, and the United States Bridge Association. In 1935, the first officially recognized world championship was held. In 1958, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) was founded to promote bridge worldwide, coordinate periodic revision to the Laws (each ten years, next in 2027) and conduct world championships. In tournaments, " bidding boxes " are frequently used, as noted above. These avoid
4950-422: The Laws every 10 years; it also issues a Laws Commentary advising on interpretations it has rendered. In addition to the basic rules of play, there are many additional rules covering playing conditions and the rectification of irregularities, which are primarily for use by tournament directors who act as referees and have overall control of procedures during competitions. But various details of procedure are left to
5060-457: The US. Bridge is a four-player partnership trick-taking game with thirteen tricks per deal. The dominant variations of the game are rubber bridge , more common in social play; and duplicate bridge , which enables comparative scoring in tournament play. Each player is dealt thirteen cards from a standard 52-card deck. A trick starts when a player leads (i.e., plays the first card). The leader to
5170-477: The agreed-upon meaning of each call and play must be available to the opponents. Since a partnership that has freedom to bid gradually at leisure can exchange more information, and since a partnership that can interfere with the opponents' bidding (as by raising the bidding level rapidly) can cause difficulties for their opponents, bidding systems are both informational and strategic. It is this mixture of information exchange and evaluation, deduction, and tactics that
5280-624: The appearance of the bridge can have great importance. Often, this is the case with a large bridge that serves as an entrance to a city, or crosses over a main harbor entrance. These are sometimes known as signature bridges. Designers of bridges in parks and along parkways often place more importance on aesthetics, as well. Examples include the stone-faced bridges along the Taconic State Parkway in New York. Bridges are typically more aesthetically pleasing if they are simple in shape,
5390-643: The attention of the general public in the 1990s by the novel, movie and play The Bridges of Madison County . In 1927, welding pioneer Stefan Bryła designed the first welded road bridge in the world, the Maurzyce Bridge which was later built across the river Słudwia at Maurzyce near Łowicz , Poland in 1929. In 1995, the American Welding Society presented the Historic Welded Structure Award for
5500-596: The basis of their cross-section. A slab can be solid or voided (though this is no longer favored for inspectability reasons) while beam-and-slab consists of concrete or steel girders connected by a concrete slab. A box-girder cross-section consists of a single-cell or multi-cellular box. In recent years, integral bridge construction has also become popular. Most bridges are fixed bridges, meaning they have no moving parts and stay in one place until they fail or are demolished. Temporary bridges, such as Bailey bridges , are designed to be assembled, taken apart, transported to
5610-416: The bidding later – or bid a contract, specifying the level of their contract and either the trump suit or no trump (the denomination), provided that it is higher than the last bid by any player, including their partner. All bids promise to take a number of tricks in excess of six, so a bid must be between one (seven tricks) and seven (thirteen tricks). A bid is higher than another bid if either
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#17327978820605720-437: The bridge to Poland. Bridges can be categorized in several different ways. Common categories include the type of structural elements used, by what they carry, whether they are fixed or movable, and by the materials used. Bridges may be classified by how the actions of tension , compression , bending , torsion and shear are distributed through their structure. Most bridges will employ all of these to some degree, but only
5830-404: The bridge. Contract bridge Contract bridge , or simply bridge , is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck . In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships , with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments , online and with friends at home, making it one of
5940-535: The cards are not re-dealt on each occasion, but the same deal is played by two or more sets of players (or "tables") to enable comparative scoring. Bridge is a member of the family of trick-taking games and is a derivative of whist , which had become the dominant such game and enjoyed a loyal following for centuries. The idea of a trick-taking, 52-card game has its first documented origins in Italy and France. The French physician and author Rabelais (1493–1553) mentions
6050-448: The cards are placed in a device called a "board" , having slots designated for each player's cardinal direction seating position. After a deal has been played, players return their cards to the appropriate slot in the board, ready to be played by the next table. The dealer opens the auction and can make the first call, and the auction proceeds clockwise. When it is their turn to call, a player may pass – but can enter into
6160-439: The center of the bridge. Multi-way bridges with only three spans appear as a "T" or "Y" when viewed from above. Multi-way bridges are extremely rare. The Tridge , Margaret Bridge , and Zanesville Y-Bridge are examples. A bridge can be categorized by what it is designed to carry, such as trains, pedestrian or road traffic ( road bridge ), a pipeline ( Pipe bridge ) or waterway for water transport or barge traffic. An aqueduct
6270-416: The concept of bidding into an auction , where partnerships compete to take a contract , specifying how many tricks they will need to take in order to receive points, and also specifying the trump suit (or no trump , meaning that there will be no trump suit). Players take turns to call in a clockwise order: each player in turn either passes, doubles – which increases the penalties for not making
6380-625: The contract for their partnership. In the example auction below, the east–west pair secures the contract of 6 ♠ ; the auction concludes when there have been three successive passes. Note that six tricks are added to contract values, so the six-level contract is a contract of twelve tricks. In practice, establishing a contract without enough information on the other partner's hand is difficult, so there exist many bidding systems assigning meanings to bids, with common ones including Standard American , Acol , and 2/1 game forcing . Contrast with Spades, where players only have to bid their own hand. After
6490-437: The contract is decided, and the first lead is made, the declarer's partner (dummy) lays their cards face up on the table, and the declarer plays the dummy's cards as well as their own. The opposing partnership is called the defenders , and their goal is to stop the declarer from fulfilling his contract. Once all the cards have been played, the hand is scored: if the declaring side makes their contract, they receive points based on
6600-429: The contract specified by the opposing partnership's last bid, but also increases the reward for making it – or redoubles, or states a contract that their partnership will adopt, which must be higher than the previous highest bid (if any). Eventually, the player who bid the highest contract – which is determined by the contract's level as well as the trump suit or no trump – wins
6710-412: The contract, and the defenders trying to stop the declaring side from achieving its goal. The deal is scored based on the number of tricks taken, the contract, and various other factors which depend to some extent on the variation of the game being played. Rubber bridge is the most popular variation for casual play, but most club and tournament play involves some variant of duplicate bridge , where
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#17327978820606820-467: The deck is thinner in proportion to its span, the lines of the structure are continuous, and the shapes of the structural elements reflect the forces acting on them. To create a beautiful image, some bridges are built much taller than necessary. This type, often found in east-Asian style gardens, is called a Moon bridge , evoking a rising full moon. Other garden bridges may cross only a dry bed of stream-washed pebbles, intended only to convey an impression of
6930-766: The discretion of the zonal bridge organisation for tournaments under their aegis and some (for example, the choice of movement ) to the sponsoring organisation (for example, the club). Some zonal organisations of the WBF also publish editions of the Laws. For example, the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) publishes the Laws of Duplicate Bridge and additional documentation for club and tournament directors. There are no universally accepted rules for rubber bridge, but some zonal organisations have published their own. An example for those wishing to abide by
7040-618: The first human-made bridges with significant span were probably intentionally felled trees. Among the oldest timber bridges is the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden bridge that crossed upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland; prehistoric timber pilings discovered to the west of the Seedamm causeway date back to 1523 BC. The first wooden footbridge there led across Lake Zürich; it was reconstructed several times through
7150-407: The first trick is determined by the auction; the leader to each subsequent trick is the player who won the preceding trick. Each player, in clockwise order, plays one card on the trick. Players must play a card of the same suit as the original card led, unless they have none (said to be "void"), in which case they may play any card. The player who played the highest-ranked card wins the trick. Within
7260-559: The first trick. Dummy then lays his or her cards face-up on the table, organized in columns by suit. Play proceeds clockwise, with each player required to follow suit if possible. Tricks are won by the highest trump, or if there were none played, the highest card of the led suit. The player who won the previous trick leads to the next trick. The declarer has control of the dummy's cards and tells his partner which card to play at dummy's turn. There also exist conventions that communicate further information between defenders about their hands during
7370-479: The game that "bridge" became synonymous with "contract bridge". The form of bridge mostly played in clubs, tournaments and online is duplicate bridge . The number of people playing contract bridge has declined since its peak in the 1940s, when a survey found it was played in 44% of US households. The game is still widely played, especially amongst retirees, and in 2005 the ACBL estimated there were 25 million players in
7480-466: The highest trump wins. For example, if the trump suit is spades and a player is void in the suit led and plays a spade card, they win the trick if no other player plays a higher spade. If a trump suit is led, the usual rule for trick-taking applies. Unlike its predecessor, whist , the goal of bridge is not simply to take the most tricks in a deal. Instead, the goal is to successfully estimate how many tricks one's partnership can take. To illustrate this,
7590-781: The late 1700s to the late 1800s, reminiscent of earlier designs in Germany and Switzerland. Some covered bridges were also built in Asia. In later years, some were partly made of stone or metal but the trusses were usually still made of wood; in the United States, there were three styles of trusses, the Queen Post, the Burr Arch and the Town Lattice. Hundreds of these structures still stand in North America. They were brought to
7700-470: The late 2nd century AD, when the Roman Empire built a 6-metre-wide (20 ft) wooden bridge to carry transport across the lake. Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria , built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake that was used until 1878; it was approximately 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) long and 4 metres (13 ft) wide. On 6 April 2001, a reconstruction of the original wooden footbridge
7810-453: The level is greater (e.g., 2 ♣ over 1NT) or the denomination is higher, with the order being in ascending (or alphabetical) order: ♣ , ♦ , ♥ , ♠ , and NT (no trump). Calls may be made orally or with a bidding box. If the last bid was by the opposing partnership, one may also double the opponents' bid, increasing the penalties for undertricks, but also increasing the reward for making the contract. Doubling does not carry to future bids by
7920-496: The level of the contract, with some trump suits being worth more points than others and no trump being the highest, as well as bonus points for overtricks . If the declarer fails to fulfill the contract, the defenders receive points depending on the declaring side's undertricks (the number of tricks short of the contract) and whether the contract was doubled by the defenders. The four players sit in two partnerships with players sitting opposite their partners. A cardinal direction
8030-424: The line toward game or a slam bonus, a change that resulted in bidding becoming much more challenging and interesting. Also new was the concept of "vulnerability", making sacrifices to protect the lead in a rubber more expensive. The various scores were adjusted to produce a more balanced and interesting game. Vanderbilt set out his rules in 1925, and within a few years contract bridge had so supplanted other forms of
8140-503: The line; game was 3NT, 4 ♥ and 5 ♦ (although 8 club odd tricks and 15 spade odd tricks were needed); the score could be doubled and redoubled; and there were slam bonuses. It has some features in common with solo whist . This game, and variants of it known as "bridge" and " bridge whist ", became popular in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1890s despite the long-established dominance of whist. Its breakthrough
8250-427: The load is factored up by a factor greater than unity, while the resistance or capacity of the structure is factored down, by a factor less than unity. The effect of the factored load (stress, bending moment) should be less than the factored resistance to that effect. Both of these factors allow for uncertainty and are greater when the uncertainty is greater. Most bridges are utilitarian in appearance, but in some cases,
8360-621: The main Olympic program. In October 2017 the British High Court ruled against the English Bridge Union, finding that Bridge is not a sport under a definition of sport as involving physical activity, but did not rule on the "broad, somewhat philosophical question" as to whether or not bridge is a sport. The basic premise of duplicate bridge had previously been used for whist matches as early as 1857. Initially, bridge
8470-450: The natural meaning of the call. Thus in response to 4NT, a 'natural' bid of 5 ♦ would state a preference towards a diamond suit or a desire to play in five diamonds, whereas if the partners have agreed to use the common Blackwood convention , a bid of 5 ♦ in the same situation would say nothing about the diamond suit, but would tell the partner that the hand in question contains exactly one ace. Conventions are valuable in bridge because of
8580-472: The need to pass information beyond a simple like or dislike of a particular suit, and because the limited bidding space can be used more efficiently by adopting a conventional (artificial) meaning for a given call where a natural meaning has less utility, because the information it conveys is not valuable or because the desire to convey that information arises only rarely. The conventional meaning conveys more useful (or more frequently useful) information. There are
8690-407: The next game. A partnership that wins two games wins the rubber, receiving a bonus of 500 points if the opponents have won a game, and 700 points if they have not. Overtricks score the same number of points per odd trick, although their doubled and redoubled values differ. Bonuses vary between the two bridge variations both in score and in type (for example, rubber bridge awards a bonus for holding
8800-432: The next table, thereby duplicating them for the other table(s) of players. At the end of a session, the scores for each deal are compared, and the most points are awarded to the players doing the best with each particular deal. This measures relative skill (but still with an element of luck) because each pair or team is being judged only on the ability to bid with, and play, the same cards as other players. Duplicate bridge
8910-442: The number of IMPs varies (but less than proportionately) with the points difference between the teams. Undertricks are scored in both variations as follows: The rules of the game are referred to as the laws as promulgated by various bridge organizations. The official rules of duplicate bridge are promulgated by the WBF as "The Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017". The Laws Committee of the WBF, composed of world experts, updates
9020-614: The obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross. There are many different designs of bridges, each serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations. Designs of bridges vary depending on factors such as the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it. The earliest bridges were likely made with fallen trees and stepping stones . The Neolithic people built boardwalk bridges across marshland. The Arkadiko Bridge , dating from
9130-445: The opponents unless future bids are doubled again. A player on the opposing partnership being doubled may also redouble , which increases the penalties and rewards further. Players may not see their partner's hand during the auction, only their own. There exist many bidding conventions that assign agreed meanings to various calls to assist players in reaching an optimal contract (or obstruct the opponents). The auction ends when, after
9240-528: The partners prior to play. The line between a well-known convention and a part of a system is not always clear-cut: some bidding systems include specified conventions by default. Bidding systems can be divided into mainly natural systems such as Acol and Standard American , and mainly artificial systems such as the Precision Club and Polish Club . Calls are usually considered to be either natural or conventional (artificial). A natural call carries
9350-629: The past, these load models were agreed by standard drafting committees of experts but today, this situation is changing. It is now possible to measure the components of bridge traffic load, to weigh trucks, using weigh-in-motion (WIM) technologies. With extensive WIM databases, it is possible to calculate the maximum expected load effect in the specified return period. This is an active area of research, addressing issues of opposing direction lanes, side-by-side (same direction) lanes, traffic growth, permit/non-permit vehicles and long-span bridges (see below). Rather than repeat this complex process every time
9460-488: The play. At any time, a player may claim , stating that their side will win a specific number of the remaining tricks. The claiming player lays his cards down on the table and explains the order in which he intends to play the remaining cards. The opponents can either accept the claim and the round is scored accordingly, or dispute the claim. If the claim is disputed, play continues with the claiming player's cards face up in rubber games, or in duplicate games, play ceases and
9570-464: The possibility of players at other tables hearing any spoken bids. The bidding cards are laid out in sequence as the auction progresses. Although it is not a formal rule, many clubs adopt a protocol that the bidding cards stay revealed until the first playing card is tabled, after which point the bidding cards are put away. Bidding pads are an alternative to bidding boxes. A bidding pad is a block of 100mm square tear-off sheets. Players write their bids on
9680-472: The principles of Load and Resistance Factor Design . Before factoring to allow for uncertainty, the load effect is generally considered to be the maximum characteristic value in a specified return period . Notably, in Europe, it is the maximum value expected in 1000 years. Bridge standards generally include a load model, deemed to represent the characteristic maximum load to be expected in the return period. In
9790-399: The remaining rounds, but in duplicate bridge, vulnerability is predetermined based on the number of each board. If the declaring side makes their contract, they receive points for odd tricks , or tricks bid and made in excess of six. In both rubber and duplicate bridge, the declaring side is awarded 20 points per odd trick for a contract in clubs or diamonds, and 30 points per odd trick for
9900-763: The roadways and reduced movement of the upper level when the lower level was installed three decades after the upper level. The Tsing Ma Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge in Hong Kong have six lanes on their upper decks, and on their lower decks there are two lanes and a pair of tracks for MTR metro trains. Some double-decked bridges only use one level for street traffic; the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis reserves its lower level for automobile and light rail traffic and its upper level for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (predominantly students at
10010-551: The rubber finishes when a partnership has won two games, but the partnership receiving the most overall points wins the rubber. Duplicate bridge is scored comparatively, meaning that the score for the hand is compared to other tables playing the same cards and match points are scored according to the comparative results: usually either "matchpoint scoring", where each partnership receives 2 points (or 1 point) for each pair that they beat, and 1 point (or 1 ⁄ 2 point) for each tie; or IMPs (international matchpoint) scoring, where
10120-734: The same year, has the span of 90 m (295 ft) and crosses the valley of the Syrabach River. The difference between the two is that the Solkan Bridge was built from stone blocks, whereas the Friedensbrücke was built from a mixture of crushed stone and cement mortar. The world's largest arch bridge is the Chaotianmen Bridge over the Yangtze River with a length of 1,741 m (5,712 ft) and
10230-449: The simpler partnership trick-taking game of spades has a similar mechanism: the usual trick-taking rules apply with the trump suit being spades, but in the beginning of the game, players bid or estimate how many tricks they can win, and the number of tricks bid by both players in a partnership are added. If a partnership takes at least that many tricks, they receive points for the round; otherwise, they lose penalty points. Bridge extends
10340-653: The simplest and oldest type of bridge in use today, and are a popular type. Some cantilever bridges also have a smaller beam connecting the two cantilevers, for extra strength. The largest cantilever bridge is the 549-metre (1,801 ft) Quebec Bridge in Quebec, Canada. With the span of 220 metres (720 ft), the Solkan Bridge over the Soča River at Solkan in Slovenia is the second-largest stone bridge in
10450-819: The time of the Warring States period , the oldest surviving stone bridge in China is the Zhaozhou Bridge , built from 595 to 605 AD during the Sui dynasty . This bridge is also historically significant as it is the world's oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge. European segmental arch bridges date back to at least the Alconétar Bridge (approximately 2nd century AD), while the enormous Roman era Trajan's Bridge (105 AD) featured open-spandrel segmental arches in wooden construction. Rope bridges ,
10560-400: The top sheet. When the first trick is complete the sheet is torn off and discarded. In top national and international events, " bidding screens " are used. These are placed diagonally across the table, preventing partners from seeing each other during the game; often the screen is removed after the auction is complete. Much of the complexity in bridge arises from the difficulty of arriving at
10670-414: The tournament director is called to adjudicate the hand. At the end of the hand, points are awarded to the declaring side if they make the contract, or else to the defenders. Partnerships can be vulnerable , increasing the rewards for making the contract, but also increasing the penalties for undertricks. In rubber bridge, if a side has won 100 contract points, they have won a game and are vulnerable for
10780-748: The undertimbers of bridges all around the world are spots of prevalent graffiti. Some bridges attract people attempting suicide, and become known as suicide bridges . The materials used to build the structure are also used to categorize bridges. Until the end of the 18th century, bridges were made out of timber, stone and masonry. Modern bridges are currently built in concrete, steel, fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), stainless steel or combinations of those materials. Living bridges have been constructed of live plants such as Ficus elastica tree roots in India and wisteria vines in Japan. Unlike buildings whose design
10890-517: The variation of strength found in natural stone. One type of cement, called pozzolana , consisted of water, lime , sand, and volcanic rock . Brick and mortar bridges were built after the Roman era , as the technology for cement was lost (then later rediscovered). In India, the Arthashastra treatise by Kautilya mentions the construction of dams and bridges. A Mauryan bridge near Girnar
11000-433: The weld transitions . This results in a potential high benefit, using existing bridges far beyond the planned lifetime. While the response of a bridge to the applied loading is well understood, the applied traffic loading itself is still the subject of research. This is a statistical problem as loading is highly variable, particularly for road bridges. Load Effects in bridges (stresses, bending moments) are designed for using
11110-649: The word for the card game of the same name is unknown. The simplest and earliest types of bridges were stepping stones . Neolithic people also built a form of boardwalk across marshes ; examples of such bridges include the Sweet Track and the Post Track in England, approximately 6000 years old. Ancient people would also have used log bridges consisting of logs that fell naturally or were intentionally felled or placed across streams. Some of
11220-452: The world and the longest railroad stone bridge. It was completed in 1905. Its arch, which was constructed from over 5,000 tonnes (4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) of stone blocks in just 18 days, is the second-largest stone arch in the world, surpassed only by the Friedensbrücke (Syratalviadukt) in Plauen , and the largest railroad stone arch. The arch of the Friedensbrücke, which was built in
11330-417: The world's most popular card games , particularly among seniors . The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the governing body for international competitive bridge, with numerous other bodies governing it at the regional level. The game consists of a number of deals , each progressing through four phases. The cards are dealt to the players; then the players call (or bid ) in an auction seeking to take
11440-430: Was built between 1926 and 1928, to better cope with the increases in size and volume of traffic. The new bridge was opened on 25 October 1928 by Wilfred Ashley , then Minister of Transport . Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water , valley , road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over
11550-461: Was constructed across the Itchen to St Denys, thus improving access and vastly increasing the value of the land. The bridge was opened with the promise to be "free to the public for ever" and was originally called the "Cobden Free Bridge". This was in clear competition to Northam Bridge further south, which at that time was a toll bridge . The bridge was named Cobden Bridge after Richard Cobden ,
11660-426: Was its acceptance in 1894 by Lord Brougham at London's Portland Club . In 1904, auction bridge was developed, in which the players bid in a competitive auction to decide the contract and declarer. The object became to make at least as many tricks as were contracted for, and penalties were introduced for failing to do so. Auction bridge bidding beyond winning the auction is pointless. If taking all 13 tricks, there
11770-607: Was not thought to be suitable for duplicate competition; it was not until the 1920s that (auction) bridge tournaments became popular. In 1925 when contract bridge first evolved, bridge tournaments were becoming popular, but the rules were somewhat in flux, and several different organizing bodies were involved in tournament sponsorship: the American Bridge League (formerly the American Auction Bridge League , which changed its name in 1929),
11880-527: Was opened; it is also the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland. The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges part of a former network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots , between the fort of Tiryns and town of Epidauros in the Peloponnese , in southern Greece . Dating to the Greek Bronze Age (13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. Several intact, arched stone bridges from
11990-630: Was supported by iron piers, cylindrical in shape and 7 feet (2.1 m) in diameter below the water and 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m) above it. The two centre piers extended 23 feet (7.0 m) below the water level and the outer two were 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. The abutments were made of concrete and although the piers were made of cast iron, they were also filled with concrete. The piers were topped with two lattice girders 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) deep and divided into 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m)-long panels, set 28 feet (8.5 m) apart from one another. The bridge carried
12100-514: Was surveyed by James Princep . The bridge was swept away during a flood, and later repaired by Puspagupta, the chief architect of emperor Chandragupta I . The use of stronger bridges using plaited bamboo and iron chain was visible in India by about the 4th century. A number of bridges, both for military and commercial purposes, were constructed by the Mughal administration in India. Although large bridges of wooden construction existed in China at
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