A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge ) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span , or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or double-leafed.
4-622: The Seabrook Bridge (officially the Senator Ted Hickey Bridge ) is a medium-rise twin bascule , four-lane roadway bridge in New Orleans , Louisiana , carrying Lakeshore Drive, connecting Leon C. Simon Drive on the upper side of the bridge with Hayne Boulevard on the lower side. The bridge is operated and maintained by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). It normally stays in
8-411: The counterweights to the span may be located above or below the bridge deck. The fixed- trunnion (sometimes a "Chicago" bascule) rotates around a large axle that raises the span(s). The Chicago bascule name derives from the location where it is widely used, and is a refinement by Joseph Strauss of the fixed-trunnion. The rolling lift trunnion (sometimes a "Scherzer" rolling lift), raises
12-523: The down position for vehicular traffic, but provides sufficient clearance for most marine traffic. 30°01′54″N 90°02′04″W / 30.0318°N 90.0345°W / 30.0318; -90.0345 This article about a bridge in Louisiana is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bascule bridge The name comes from the French term for balance scale , which employs
16-479: The same principle. Bascule bridges are the most common type of movable span because they open quickly and require relatively little energy to operate, while providing the possibility for unlimited vertical clearance for marine traffic. Bascule bridges have been in use since ancient times, but until the adoption of steam power in the 1850s, very long, heavy spans could not be moved quickly enough for practical application. There are three types of bascule bridge and
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