An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch . Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side, and partially into a vertical load on the arch supports. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.
50-740: The Glendale-Hyperion Bridge is a concrete arch bridge viaduct in Atwater Village that spans the Los Angeles River and Interstate 5 . The Hyperion Bridge was constructed in 1927 by vote of the citizens that lived in Atwater Village at the time and was completed in February 1929. The bridge spans 400 feet over the Atwater section of the Los Angeles River and has four car lanes. The bridge has become more widely known since
100-417: A central keystone . Unlike "true" arches, not all of the structure's tensile stresses caused by the weight of the superstructure are transformed into compressive stresses . Corbel arches and vaults require significantly thickened walls and an abutment of other stone or fill to counteract the effects of gravity , which otherwise would tend to collapse each side of the archway inwards. Some arches use
150-512: A deck arch bridge. Any part supported from arch below may have spandrels that are closed or open. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bayonne Bridge are a through arch bridge which uses a truss type arch. Also known as a bowstring arch, this type of arch bridge incorporates a tie between two opposite ends of the arch. The tie is usually the deck and is capable of withstanding the horizontal thrust forces which would normally be exerted on
200-509: A distinctive feature of certain pre-Columbian Mesoamerican constructions and historical/regional architectural styles , particularly in that of the Maya civilization . The prevalence of this spanning technique for entrances and vaults in Maya architecture is attested at a great many Maya archaeological sites , and is known from structures dating back to the Formative or Preclassic era. By
250-462: A greater passage for flood waters. Bridges with perforated spandrels can be found worldwide, such as in China ( Zhaozhou Bridge , 7th century). Greece ( Bridge of Arta , 17th century) and Wales ( Cenarth Bridge , 18th century). In more modern times, stone and brick arches continued to be built by many civil engineers, including Thomas Telford , Isambard Kingdom Brunel and John Rennie . A key pioneer
300-625: A multitude of other structures, dating from the Mycenean and Minoan , the late Classical , and the Hellenistic periods. The ruins of ancient Mycenae feature many corbel arches and vaults, the Treasury of Atreus , built around 1250 BC, being a prominent example. The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenean corbel arch bridges, which are part of a former network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots, between Tiryns and Epidauros in
350-447: A number were segmental arch bridges (such as Alconétar Bridge ), a bridge which has a curved arch that is less than a semicircle. The advantages of the segmental arch bridge were that it allowed great amounts of flood water to pass under it, which would prevent the bridge from being swept away during floods and the bridge itself could be more lightweight. Generally, Roman bridges featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones ( voussoirs ) of
400-448: A quantity of fill material (typically compacted rubble) above the arch in order to increase this dead-weight on the bridge and prevent tension from occurring in the arch ring as loads move across the bridge. Other materials that were used to build this type of bridge were brick and unreinforced concrete. When masonry (cut stone) is used the angles of the faces are cut to minimize shear forces. Where random masonry (uncut and unprepared stones)
450-415: A result, masonry arch bridges are designed to be constantly under compression, so far as is possible. Each arch is constructed over a temporary falsework frame, known as a centring . In the first compression arch bridges, a keystone in the middle of the bridge bore the weight of the rest of the bridge. The more weight that was put onto the bridge, the stronger its structure became. Masonry arch bridges use
500-658: A retrofitting for the Glendale-Hyperion Complex of Bridges Project. The 430 ft (130 m) long bridge was completed in January 2020 at a cost of $ 4 million, and is named after the Red Car trolleys that once used the bridge's route. The bridge is a multi-modal bridge serving both pedestrians and bikes. In 2012, a small-scale version mimicking the architectural features of the Hyperion Bridge
550-494: A stepped style, keeping the block faces rectangular, while other form or select them to give the arch smooth edges, usually with a pointed shape. Corbelling is a technique first applied by the ancient Egyptians and Chaldeans . The Newgrange passage tomb, built sometime between 3200 and 2500 BC during the Neolithic period, has an intact corbel arch (vault) supporting the roof of the main chamber. The medieval buildings of
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#1732794140259600-430: A three-hinged bridge has hinged in all three locations. Most modern arch bridges are made from reinforced concrete . This type of bridge is suitable where a temporary centring may be erected to support the forms, reinforcing steel, and uncured concrete. When the concrete is sufficiently set the forms and falseworks are then removed. It is also possible to construct a reinforced concrete arch from precast concrete , where
650-428: Is a masonry, or stone, bridge where each successively higher course (layer) cantilevers slightly more than the previous course. The steps of the masonry may be trimmed to make the arch have a rounded shape. The corbel arch does not produce thrust, or outward pressure at the bottom of the arch, and is not considered a true arch . It is more stable than a true arch because it does not have this thrust. The disadvantage
700-573: Is still used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a triangular corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch. Although true arches were already known by the Etruscans and ancient Greeks , the Romans were – as with the vault and the dome – the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction. A list of Roman bridges compiled by
750-432: Is that this type of arch is not suitable for large spans. In some locations it is necessary to span a wide gap at a relatively high elevation, such as when a canal or water supply must span a valley. Rather than building extremely large arches, or very tall supporting columns (difficult using stone), a series of arched structures are built one atop another, with wider structures at the base. Roman civil engineers developed
800-402: Is used they are mortared together and the mortar is allowed to set before the falsework is removed. Traditional masonry arches are generally durable, and somewhat resistant to settlement or undermining. However, relative to modern alternatives, such bridges are very heavy, requiring extensive foundations . They are also expensive to build wherever labor costs are high. The corbel arch bridge
850-683: The Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere around the Mediterranean, going back to 3000 BC, is also similar. The Hittites in ancient Anatolia were also building corbelled vaults. The earliest ones date to the 16th century BC. Some similarities are found between the Hittite and Mycenaean construction techniques. Yet the Hittite corbelled vaults are earlier by about 300 years. Greece has a long list of surviving or archaeologically studied corbelled arches and vaults used for bridges and
900-561: The Los Angeles River and down Glendale Boulevard . Up until 1959 the Red Cars would routinely cross the Los Angeles River next to the Hyperion Bridge. The line was shut down in 1959 in favor of Freeways. Today the concrete walls that held up the Red Car tracks still stand although the tracks have since been dismantled. The bridge also served as a filming location in the 1988 live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit as
950-586: The Peloponnese , in Greece . Dating to the Greek Bronze Age (13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge on Crete has an unusually large span of nearly 4 metres. A second nearby bridge, which had survived until the late 19th century, is tentatively dated to the late Classical period. Corbeled arches are
1000-544: The Grand Gallery. The Egyptians discovered the principle of the true arch early on, but continued to use the corbel arch in many buildings, sometimes mixing the two in the same building. In particular they avoided the true arch in temples as long as these were constructed, preferring rectangular openings with a straight lintel . Corbel arches and vaults are found in various places around the ancient Mediterranean. In particular, corbelled burial vaults constructed below
1050-436: The abutments of an arch bridge. The deck is suspended from the arch. The arch is in compression, in contrast to a suspension bridge where the catenary is in tension. A tied-arch bridge can also be a through arch bridge. An arch bridge with hinges incorporated to allow movement between structural elements. A single-hinged bridge has a hinge at the crown of the arch , a two-hinged bridge has hinges at both springing points and
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#17327941402591100-793: The acclaimed Florentine segmental arch bridge Ponte Vecchio (1345) combined sound engineering (span-to-rise ratio of over 5.3 to 1) with aesthetical appeal. The three elegant arches of the Renaissance Ponte Santa Trinita (1569) constitute the oldest elliptic arch bridge worldwide. Such low rising structures required massive abutments , which at the Venetian Rialto bridge and the Fleischbrücke in Nuremberg (span-to-rise ratio 6.4:1) were founded on thousands of wooden piles, partly rammed obliquely into
1150-416: The arch and the deck is known as the spandrel . If the spandrel is solid, usually the case in a masonry or stone arch bridge, the bridge is called a closed-spandrel deck arch bridge . If the deck is supported by a number of vertical columns rising from the arch, the bridge is known as an open-spandrel deck arch bridge . The Alexander Hamilton Bridge is an example of an open-spandrel arch bridge. Finally, if
1200-400: The arch is built in two halves which are then leaned against each other. Many modern bridges, made of steel or reinforced concrete, often bear some of their load by tension within their structure. This reduces or eliminates the horizontal thrust against the abutments and allows their construction on weaker ground. Structurally and analytically they are not true arches but rather a beam with
1250-422: The arch supports the deck only at the top of the arch, the bridge is called a cathedral arch bridge . This type of bridge has an arch whose base is at or below the deck, but whose top rises above it, so the deck passes through the arch. The central part of the deck is supported by the arch via suspension cables or tie bars, as with a tied-arch bridge . The ends of the bridge may be supported from below, as with
1300-593: The beginning of the Classic era (ca. 250 CE ) corbeled vaults are a near-universal feature of building construction in the central Petén Basin region of the central Maya lowlands. Before the true arch was introduced in Indo-Islamic architecture , almost all the arches in Indian buildings were either trabeated or corbelled. In North India in the state of Orissa , "the later temples at Bhubaneswar were built on
1350-625: The bridge an unusually flat profile unsurpassed for more than a millennium. Trajan's bridge over the Danube featured open- spandrel segmental arches made of wood (standing on 40 m-high (130 ft) concrete piers). This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length, while the longest extant Roman bridge is the 790 m-long (2,590 ft) long Puente Romano at Mérida . The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia may represent
1400-588: The building of a small-scale replica at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California . Before the building of the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge there was a wooden bridge where it now stands. That bridge, built around 1910, served as the main entrance to Atwater Village, until its collapse after a large flood in 1927. After the collapse of the original bridge Atwater needed a more convenient way of traveling to downtown Los Angeles . That year
1450-606: The citizens of Atwater Village, which was about 2,100 individuals, voted for the building of a new bridge to cross the Los Angeles River. On March 27, 1927 construction began on the bridge. The original idea of building a bridge to cross the river was expanded to so the bridge would cross the pre-5 freeway. When the construction started, the city called the architectural designer, Merrill Butler. Merrill Butler bought 35,000 cubic yards (27,000 m) of concrete and 6 million pounds (2,700,000 kg) of reinforcing steel. They also drove about 1,500 wood and 3,200 concrete piles to support
1500-414: The design and constructed highly refined structures using only simple materials, equipment, and mathematics. This type is still used in canal viaducts and roadways as it has a pleasing shape, particularly when spanning water, as the reflections of the arches form a visual impression of circles or ellipses. This type of bridge comprises an arch where the deck is completely above the arch. The area between
1550-554: The earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch. In medieval Europe, bridge builders improved on the Roman structures by using narrower piers , thinner arch barrels and higher span-to-rise ratios on bridges. Gothic pointed arches were also introduced, reducing lateral thrust, and spans increased as with the eccentric Puente del Diablo (1282). The 14th century in particular saw bridge building reaching new heights. Span lengths of 40 m (130 ft), previously unheard of in
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1600-534: The end point of the Benny the Cab chase scene. Today the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge still serves the people of Los Angeles and Glendale by serving as a crossing point between the cities. In 2004 multiple murals were painted on the old Red Car walls. Because of that the area underneath and around the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge is now named "Red Car Park". Prior to 2011, the area underneath the bridge served as an encampment for
1650-484: The engineer Colin O'Connor features 330 Roman stone bridges for traffic, 34 Roman timber bridges and 54 Roman aqueduct bridges , a substantial part still standing and even used to carry vehicles. A more complete survey by the Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 countries (including former Yugoslavia ). Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular , although
1700-632: The floor are found in Middle Bronze II-III Ebla in Syria, and in Tell el-Ajjul , Hazor , Megiddo and Ta'anach in Canaan (today's Israel and Palestine ). Ugarit , an ancient port city in northern Syria , also has corbelled structures. Nuraghe constructions in ancient Sardinia , dating back to the 18th century BC, use similar corbel techniques. The use of beehive tombs on
1750-499: The grounds to counteract more effectively the lateral thrust. In China, the oldest existing arch bridge is the Zhaozhou Bridge of 605 AD, which combined a very low span-to-rise ratio of 5.2:1, with the use of spandrel arches (buttressed with iron brackets). The Zhaozhou Bridge, with a length of 167 feet (51 m) and span of 123 feet (37 m), is the world's first wholly stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge, allowing
1800-443: The history of masonry arch construction, were now reached in places as diverse as Spain ( Puente de San Martín ), Italy ( Castelvecchio Bridge ) and France ( Devil's bridge and Pont Grand ) and with arch types as different as semi-circular, pointed and segmental arches. The bridge at Trezzo sull'Adda , destroyed in the 15th century, even featured a span length of 72 m (236 ft), not matched until 1796. Constructions such as
1850-445: The lengths of two opposing walls. Although an improvement in load-bearing efficiency over the post and lintel design, corbeled arches are not entirely self-supporting structures, and the corbeled arch is sometimes termed a false arch for this reason. Different from "true" arches, "false" or corbelled arches are built of horizontally laid stones or bricks, not of wedge-shaped voussoirs converging towards, and being held together by
1900-514: The local homeless. In 2011, all homeless people were removed as well as all of their belongings. On May 12, 2015, Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell announced that the Atwater Red Car Pedestrian Bridge , a permanent pedestrian/bicycle bridge would be built atop the old Red Car Pylons, connecting the two banks of the L.A. River. The project began in 2018 after the design phase was completed, and coincided with
1950-767: The monastery at Skellig Michael are also constructed using this method. During the Fourth Dynasty reign of Pharaoh Sneferu (c. 2600 BC), the Ancient Egyptian pyramids used corbel vaults in some of their chambers. These monuments include the Meidum Pyramid (around 2600 BC), the Bent Pyramid (c. 2600 BC) and its satellite pyramid, and the Red Pyramid (c. 2590 BC). The Great Pyramid of Giza (c. 2580–2560 BC) uses corbel arches at
2000-479: The only ones to construct bridges with concrete , which they called Opus caementicium . The outside was usually covered with brick or ashlar , as in the Alcántara Bridge . The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction. The 330 m-long (1,080 ft) Limyra Bridge in southwestern Turkey features 26 segmental arches with an average span-to-rise ratio of 5.3:1, giving
2050-607: The patrons were used to Central Asian styles that used true arches heavily. Corbel arches, the largest of exceptional size, were used in the massive screens in front of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Delhi , begun in 1193, and the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque, Ajmer , Rajasthan , c. 1229. These are examples of Islamic architecture drawing on Persia and Central Asia, where builders were well used to
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2100-502: The piers and abutments. They also constructed 13 arches on the bridge. In total, Merrill Butler spent about $ 2 million on the construction of the bridge. Butler decided to put in a section for trolley cars to cross the bridge along with cars. In September 1928 the Hyperion Bridge was officially opened. In 1929, the Pacific Electric Railway constructed a line next to the Hyperion Bridge that would have Red Cars cross
2150-521: The principle of corbelled vaulting, which is seen first in the porch of the Mukteswar [a temple said to epitomize North Indian architecture, circa AD 950] and, technically speaking, no fundamental change occurred from this time onwards." The earliest large buildings of the Delhi Sultanate established in 1206 after a Muslim invasion used Indian workers used to Hindu temple architecture , but
2200-639: The same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts , such as the Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct . Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in the piers, e.g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome (62 BC), one of the world's oldest major bridges still standing. Roman engineers were the first and until the Industrial Revolution
2250-455: The shape of an arch. See truss arch bridge for more on this type. A modern evolution of the arch bridge is the long-span through arch bridge . This has been made possible by the use of light materials that are strong in tension such as steel and prestressed concrete. "The Romans were the first builders in Europe, perhaps the first in the world, fully to appreciate the advantages of the arch,
2300-401: The springline of the walls (the point at which the walls break off from verticality to form an arc toward the apex at the archway's center) so that they project towards the archway's center from each supporting side, until the courses meet at the apex of the archway (often the last gap is bridged with a flat stone). For a corbeled vault covering, the technique is extended in three dimensions along
2350-601: The true arch, that stick with the corbelled arch that Indian builders were used to. It took almost a century from the start of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 for the true arch to appear. By around 1300 true domes and arches with voussoirs were being built; the ruined Tomb of Balban (d. 1287) in the Qutb complex in Delhi may be the earliest survival. The candi or temples of Indonesia which were constructed between 8th to 15th century, made use of corbel arch technique to create
2400-486: The vault and the dome." Corbel arch A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch ) is an arch -like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge. A corbel vault uses this technique to support the superstructure of a building's roof. A corbel arch is constructed by offsetting successive horizontal courses of stone (or brick) beginning at
2450-402: Was Jean-Rodolphe Perronet , who used much narrower piers, revised calculation methods and exceptionally low span-to-rise ratios. Different materials, such as cast iron , steel and concrete have been increasingly used in the construction of arch bridges. Stone, brick and other such materials are strong in compression and somewhat so in shear , but cannot resist much force in tension . As
2500-808: Was revealed as a functioning bridge exclusively for the Disneyland Monorail System on Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California. This same monorail bridge had previously been styled to resemble San Francisco 's Golden Gate Bridge when the park opened in 2001. Arch bridge Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko Bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge
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