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97-860: Thanlwin Bridge (Mawlamyaing) was the longest bridge in Myanmar before the construction of the Pakouku Bridge and it connects the city of Mawlamyaing with Mottama . Constructed at the confluence of the Thanlwin River, the Gyaing River and the Attayan River in Mon State , the bridge has features a two-mile (3 km)-long motor road and a four-mile (6 km)-long railroad as well as pedestrian lanes. The approach structure of

194-600: 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

291-556: A hybrid of a donkey and a female onager , named Kunga in the city of Nagar which was famous for breeding them. The hybrids were used by the Eblaite , early Sumerian , Akkadian and Ur III armies. Although sometimes carrying a spearman with the charioteer (driver), such heavy wagons, borne on solid wooden wheels and covered with skins, may have been part of the baggage train (e.g., during royal funeral processions) rather than vehicles of battle in themselves. The Sumerians had

388-674: A two-wheeled spoked cart that does not fit the definition of the ancient Near Eastern chariot . Before these discoveries can help answer the question of where the chariot originated, thorough studies of the spoked wheeled vehicles and horse gear of the steppes, as well as of interconnections and transfer of knowledge, are necessary (cf. Epimachov and Korjakova in Fansa and Burmeister 2004). Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian and early European mythology. Chariots are also an important part of both Hindu and Persian mythology , with most of

485-525: 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

582-471: 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

679-420: A chariot or coach, especially at a reckless or dangerous speed. Plato , in his Chariot Allegory , depicted a chariot drawn by two horses, one well behaved and the other troublesome, representing opposite impulses of human nature; the task of the charioteer, representing reason, was to stop the horses from going different ways and to guide them towards enlightenment. The Greek word for chariot, ἅρμα, hárma ,

776-549: A chariot to fetch the bride home. Herodotus ( Histories , 5. 9) Reports that chariots were widely used in the Pontic – Caspian steppe by the Sigynnae . Greek chariots were made to be drawn by two horses attached to a central pole. If two additional horses were added, they were attached on each side of the main pair by a single bar or trace fastened to the front or prow of the chariot, as may be seen on two prize vases in

873-480: 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

970-399: 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

1067-606: 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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1164-581: 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 the first human-made bridges with significant span were probably intentionally felled trees. Among

1261-666: 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 the Hellenistic era can be found in the Peloponnese. The greatest bridge builders of antiquity were

1358-799: A lighter, two-wheeled type of cart , pulled by four asses , and with solid wheels. The spoked wheel did not appear in Mesopotamia until the mid second millennium BCE. Chariot use made its way into Egypt around 1650 BCE during the Hyksos invasion of Egypt and establishment of the Fourteenth Dynasty . In 1659 BCE the Indo-European Hittites sacked Babylon , which demonstrated the superiority of chariots in antiquity. The chariot and horse were used extensively in Egypt by

1455-514: A sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found. They date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, c.  2500 BCE . These are more properly called wagons which were double-axled and pulled by oxen or

1552-593: 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

1649-749: 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

1746-489: 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

1843-462: 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

1940-470: 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 , a simple type of suspension bridge , were used by

2037-452: Is also used nowadays to denote a tank , properly called άρμα μάχης, árma mákhēs , literally a "combat chariot". The Trundholm sun chariot is dated to c. 1500-1300 BCE (see: Nordic Bronze Age ). The horse drawing the solar disk runs on four wheels, and the Sun itself on two. All wheels have four spokes. The "chariot" comprises the solar disk, the axle, and the wheels, and it is unclear whether

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2134-588: 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

2231-635: Is armed with a bow and arrow, threatens the right flank. It has been suggested (speculated) that the drawings record a story, most probably dating to the early centuries BCE, from some center in the area of the Ganges – Yamuna plain into the territory of still Neolithic hunting tribes. The very realistic chariots carved into the Sanchi stupas are dated to roughly the 1st century. Bronze Age solid-disk wheel carts were found in 2018 at Sinauli , which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots," predating

2328-526: Is attributed to Kikkuli the Mitanni (15th century BCE). The Hittites were renowned charioteers. They developed a new chariot design that had lighter wheels, with four spokes rather than eight, and that held three rather than two warriors. It could hold three warriors because the wheel was placed in the middle of the chariot and not at the back as in Egyptian chariots. Typically one Hittite warrior steered

2425-496: 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

2522-417: 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

2619-540: 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

2716-602: Is no evidence. It is from the wheel track measurements and the dimensions and positions of the wheels alone that we may legitimately draw conclusions and these are alone sufficient to establish that the Sintashta-Petrovka vehicles would not be manoeuverable enough for use either in warfare or in racing. Peter Raulwing and Stefan Burmeister consider the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero finds from the steppe to be carts rather than chariots. However, recent discoveries in

2813-548: Is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel ( c.  3150 BCE ). The later Greeks of the first millennium BCE had a (still not very effective) cavalry arm (indeed, it has been argued that these early horseback riding soldiers may have given rise to the development of the later, heavily armed foot-soldiers known as hoplites ), and the rocky terrain of the Greek mainland was unsuited for wheeled vehicles. The chariot

2910-574: Is the Old Hittite Anitta text (18th century BCE), which mentions 40 teams of horses (in the original cuneiform spelling: 40 ṢÍ-IM-TI ANŠE.KUR.RA ) at the siege of Salatiwara . Since the text mentions teams rather than chariots , the existence of chariots in the 18th century BCE is uncertain. The first certain attestation of chariots in the Hittite empire dates to the late 17th century BCE ( Hattusili I ). A Hittite horse-training text

3007-737: 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

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3104-575: The British Museum from the Panathenaic Games at Athens, Greece , in which the driver is seated with feet resting on a board hanging down in front close to the legs of the horses. The biga itself consists of a seat resting on the axle, with a rail at each side to protect the driver from the wheels. Greek chariots appear to have lacked any other attachment for the horses, which would have made turning difficult. The body or basket of

3201-806: The Canaanites and Israelites . 1 Samuel 13:5 mentions chariots of the Philistines , who are sometimes identified with the Sea Peoples or early Greeks . Examples from The Jewish Study Bible of the Tanakh ( Jewish Bible ) include: Examples from the King James Version of the Christian Bible include: Small domestic horses may have been present in the northern Negev before 3000 BCE. Jezreel (city) has been identified as

3298-458: The Hyksos invaders from the 16th century BCE onwards, though discoveries announced in 2013 potentially place the earliest chariot use as early as Egypt's Old Kingdom ( c.  2686 –2181 BCE). In the remains of Egyptian and Assyrian art, there are numerous representations of chariots, which display rich ornamentation. The chariots of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with whom the bow was

3395-510: 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

3492-513: The Latin term carrus , a loanword from Gaulish karros . In ancient Rome a biga described a chariot requiring two horses, a triga three, and a quadriga four. The wheel may have been invented at several places, with early evidence found in Ukraine , Poland , Germany , and Slovenia . Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid 4th millennium BC near-simultaneously in

3589-612: The Northern Caucasus ( Maykop culture ), and in Central Europe. These earliest vehicles may have been ox carts . A necessary precursor to the invention of the chariot is the domestication of animals , and specifically domestication of horses – a major step in the development of civilization. Despite the large impact horse domestication has had in transport and communication, tracing its origins has been challenging. Evidence supports horses having been domesticated in

3686-552: 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 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

3783-864: 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,

3880-668: The Vedic period around 1750 BCE. Shortly after this, about 1700 BCE, evidence of chariots appears in Asia-Minor . The earliest fully developed spoke-wheeled horse chariots are from the chariot burials of the Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the Sintashta-Petrovka Proto-Indo-Iranian culture in modern Russia and Kazakhstan from around 2000 BCE. This culture is at least partially derived from

3977-608: 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 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

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4074-535: The petroglyphs in the sandstone of the Vindhya range. Two depictions of chariots are found in Morhana Pahar, Mirzapur district. One depicts a biga and the head of the driver. The second depicts a quadriga, with six-spoked wheels, and a driver standing up in a large chariot box. This chariot is being attacked. One figure, who is armed with a shield and a mace, stands in the chariot's path; another figure, who

4171-504: 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

4268-502: The 17(18)th–16th centuries BCE. Some scholars argue that the horse chariot was most likely a product of the ancient Near East early in the 2nd millennium BCE. Archaeologist Joost Crouwel writes that "Chariots were not sudden inventions, but developed out of earlier vehicles that were mounted on disk or cross-bar wheels. This development can best be traced in the Near East, where spoke-wheeled and horse-drawn chariots are first attested in

4365-523: 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

4462-690: The Eurasian Steppes, with studies suggesting the Botai culture in modern-day Kazakhstan were the first, about 3500 BCE. Others say horses were domesticated earlier than 3500 BCE in Eastern Europe (modern Ukraine and Western Kazakhstan ), 6000 years ago. The spread of spoke-wheeled chariots has been closely associated with early Indo-Iranian migrations. The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta culture burial sites, and

4559-533: The Eurasian steppe have provided fresh support to the claim that the chariot originated there, rather than in the Near East itself, and may be attributed to speakers of an Indo-Iranian (or Indo-Aryan) language. In particular, archaeological remains of horse gear and spoked wheeled vehicles have been found at the sites of Sintashta (Russia) and Krivoe Ozero (northern Kazakhstan), with calibrated radiocarbon dating to ca. 2000–1800. These finds, however, provide evidence of

4656-727: The Indo-Iranians, and horses and horse-drawn chariots were introduced in India by the Indo-Aryans. In Rigveda , Indra is described as strong willed, armed with a thunderbolt , riding a chariot: May the strong Heaven make thee the Strong wax stronger: Strong, for thou art borne by thy two strong Bay Horses. So, fair of cheek, with mighty chariot, mighty, uphold us, strong-willed, thunder armed, in battle. — RigVeda, Book 5, Hymn XXXVI: Griffith Among Rigvedic deities , notably

4753-512: The Mahabharata is around 1750 BCE ." According to Asko Parpola these finds were ox-pulled carts, indicating that these burials are related to an early Aryan migration of Proto-Indo-Iranian speaking people into the Indian subcontinent, "forming then the ruling elite of a major Late Harappan settlement." Horse-drawn chariots, as well as their cult and associated rituals, were spread by

4850-410: The Sintashta culture vehicle finds are true chariots. In 1996 Joost Crouwel and Mary Aiken Littauer wrote Let us consider what is actually known of the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero vehicles. At Sintashta, there remained only the imprints of the lower parts of the wheels in their slots in the floor of the burial chamber; Krivoe Ozero also preserved imprints of parts of the axle and naves. At Sintashta,

4947-434: The Vedic Sun God Surya rides on a one spoked chariot driven by his charioteer Aruṇa . Ushas (the dawn) rides in a chariot, as well as Agni in his function as a messenger between gods and men. The Jain Bhagavi Sutra states that Indian troops used a chariot with a club or mace attached to it during the war against the Licchavis during the reign of Ajatashatru of Magadha . The Persians succeeded Elam in

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5044-496: 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,

5141-444: The arrival of the horse-centered Indo-Aryans. They were ascribed by Sanjay Manjul, director of the excavations, to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP)/ Copper Hoard Culture , which was contemporaneous with the Late Harappan culture, and interpreted by him as horse-pulled chariots. Majul further noted that "the rituals relating to the Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals, and stated that "the dating of

5238-416: 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

5335-596: 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

5432-432: 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 the 13th century BC, in the Peloponnese is one of the oldest arch bridges in existence and use. The Oxford English Dictionary traces

5529-437: 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

5626-563: The bridge. Chariot The chariot was a fast, light, open, two- wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more equids (usually horses) that were hitched side by side, and was little more than a floor with a waist-high guard at the front and sides. It was initially used for ancient warfare during the Bronze and Iron Ages, but after its military capabilities had been superseded by light and heavy cavalries, chariots continued to be used for travel and transport, in processions , for games , and in races . The word "chariot" comes from

5723-439: 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

5820-488: The chariot base of King Ahab . And a decorated bronze tablet thought to be the head of a lynchpin of a Canaanite chariot was found at a site that may be Sisera 's fortress Harosheth Haggoyim . In Urartu (860–590 BCE), the chariot was used by both the nobility and the military. In Erebuni ( Yerevan ), King Argishti of Urartu is depicted riding on a chariot which is pulled by two horses. The chariot has two wheels and each wheel has about eight spokes. This type of chariot

5917-429: The chariot in Achaean art. This sculpture shows a single man driving a two-wheeled small box chariot. Later the vehicles were used in games and processions, notably for races at the Olympic and Panathenaic Games and other public festivals in ancient Greece, in hippodromes and in contests called agons . They were also used in ceremonial functions, as when a paranymph , or friend of a bridegroom, went with him in

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6014-417: The chariot rested directly on the axle (called beam ) connecting the two wheels. There was no suspension , making this an uncomfortable form of transport. At the front and sides of the basket was a semicircular guard about 3 ft (1 m) high, to give some protection from enemy attack. At the back the basket was open, making it easy to mount and dismount. There was no seat, and generally only enough room for

6111-406: The chariot while the second man was usually the main archer; the third warrior would either wield a spear or sword when charging at enemies or hold up a large shield to protect himself and the others from enemy arrows. Hittite prosperity largely depended on their control of trade routes and natural resources, specifically metals. As the Hittites gained dominion over Mesopotamia, tensions flared among

6208-579: The culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare . It is also strongly associated with the ancestors of modern domestic horses, the DOM2 population (DOM2 horses originated from the Western Eurasia steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don, but not in Anatolia, during the late fourth and early third millennia BCE. Their genes may show selection for easier domestication and stronger backs). These Aryan people migrated southward into South Asia, ushering in

6305-467: 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

6402-515: The driver and one passenger. The reins were mostly the same as those in use in the 19th century, and were made of leather and ornamented with studs of ivory or metal. The reins were passed through rings attached to the collar bands or yoke, and were long enough to be tied round the waist of the charioteer to allow for defense. The wheels and basket of the chariot were usually of wood, strengthened in places with bronze or iron. The wheels had from four to eight spokes and tires of bronze or iron. Due to

6499-448: The earlier Yamna culture . It built heavily fortified settlements, engaged in bronze metallurgy on an industrial scale, and practiced complex burial rituals reminiscent of Hindu rituals known from the Rigveda and the Avesta . Over the next few centuries, the Andronovo culture spread across the steppes from the Urals to the Tien Shan , likely corresponding to the time of early Indo-Iranian cultures . Not everyone agrees that

6596-431: The earlier part of the second millennium BCE..." and were illustrated on a Syrian cylinder seal dated to either the 18th or 17th century BCE. According to Christoph Baumer , the earliest discoveries of wheels in Mesopotamia come from the first half of the third millennium BCE – more than half a millennium later than the first finds from the Kuban region. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of

6693-445: The four specimens from the tomb of Tutankhamun . Chariots can be pulled by two or more horses. Chariots are frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Tanakh and the Greek Old Testament , respectively, particularly by the prophets, as instruments of war or as symbols of power or glory. First mentioned in the story of Joseph ( Genesis 50:9), "Iron chariots" are mentioned also in Joshua (17:16, 18) and Judges (1:19,4:3, 13) as weapons of

6790-477: The gods in their pantheon portrayed as riding them. The Sanskrit word for a chariot is rátha- ( m. ), which is cognate with Avestan raθa- (also m.), and in origin a substantiation of the adjective Proto-Indo-European *rot-h₂-ó- meaning "having wheels", with the characteristic accent shift found in Indo-Iranian substantivisations. This adjective is in turn derived from the collective noun *rot-eh₂- "wheels", continued in Latin rota , which belongs to

6887-431: 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 was opened; it is also the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland. The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges part of

6984-781: 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

7081-427: 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,

7178-718: The mid 1st millennium. They may have been the first to yoke four horses to their chariots. They also used scythed chariots . Cyrus the Younger employed these chariots in large numbers at the Battle of Cunaxa . Herodotus mentions that the Ancient Libyan and the Ancient Indian ( Sattagydia , Gandhara and Hindush ) satrapies supplied cavalry and chariots to Xerxes the Great 's army. However, by this time, cavalry

7275-463: The mountings. According to Greek mythology, the chariot was invented by Erichthonius of Athens to conceal his feet, which were those of a dragon. The most notable appearance of the chariot in Greek mythology occurs when Phaëton , the son of Helios , in an attempt to drive the chariot of the sun, managed to set the earth on fire. This story led to the archaic meaning of a phaeton as one who drives

7372-789: The neighboring Assyrians , Hurrians , and Egyptians . Under Suppiluliuma I , the Hittites conquered Kadesh and, eventually, the whole of Syria . The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE is likely to have been the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving over 5,000 chariots. Models of single axled, solid wheeled ox-drawn vehicles, have been found at several mature Indus Valley cites, such as Chanhudaro , Daimabad , Harappa , and Nausharo . Spoked-wheeled, horse-drawn chariots, often carrying an armed passenger, are depicted in second millennium BCE Chalcolithic period rock paintings, examples are known from Chibbar Nulla, Chhatur Bhoj Nath Nulla, and Kathotia. There are some depictions of chariots among

7469-514: The noun *rót-o- for "wheel" (from *ret- "to run") that is also found in Germanic, Celtic and Baltic ( Old High German rad n., Old Irish roth m., Lithuanian rãtas m.). Nomadic tribes of the Pontic steppes, like Scythians such as Hamaxobii , would travel in wagons , carts , and chariots during their migrations. The oldest testimony of chariot warfare in the ancient Near East

7566-699: 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 the late 2nd century AD, when the Roman Empire built a 6-metre-wide (20 ft) wooden bridge to carry transport across

7663-495: 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 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

7760-629: 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

7857-405: The path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over 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

7954-454: The principal arm of attack, were richly mounted with quivers full of arrows. The Egyptians invented the yoke saddle for their chariot horses in c.  1500 BCE . As a general rule, the Egyptians used chariots as mobile archery platforms; chariots always had two men, with the driver steering the chariot with his reins while the main archer aimed his bow and arrow at any targets within range. The best preserved examples of Egyptian chariots are

8051-419: 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

8148-500: The rail bridge on Mawlamyaing bank is 1.22 miles (1,960 m) long, while on the Mottama bank is 1.42 miles (2,290 m) long. The total length of the rail bridge is 4.1 miles (6,600 m) long. The Ministry of Construction was responsible for the designing and building the bridge. Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water , valley , road, or railway) without blocking

8245-763: 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

8342-734: 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

8439-653: 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

8536-595: The sun is depicted as the chariot or as the passenger. Nevertheless, the presence of a model of a horse-drawn vehicle on two spoked wheels in Northern Europe at such an early time is astonishing. In addition to the Trundholm chariot, there are numerous petroglyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age that depict chariots. One petroglyph, drawn on a stone slab in a double burial from c. 1000 BCE, depicts

8633-696: 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

8730-433: 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

8827-420: The wheel tracks and their position relative to the walls of the tomb chamber limited the dimensions of the naves, hence the stability of the vehicle. Ancient naves were symmetrical, the part outside the spokes of equal length to that inside. The present reconstructions of the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero vehicles above the axle level raise many doubts and questions, but one cannot argue about something for which there

8924-454: The widely spaced spokes, the rim of the chariot wheel was held in tension over comparatively large spans. Whilst this provided a small measure of shock absorption, it also necessitated the removal of the wheels when the chariot was not in use, to prevent warping from continued weight bearing. Most other nations of this time had chariots of similar design to the Greeks, the chief differences being

9021-452: 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

9118-513: Was far more effective and agile than the chariot, and the defeat of Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE), where the army of Alexander simply opened their lines and let the chariots pass and attacked them from behind, marked the end of the era of chariot warfare (barring the Seleucid and Pontic powers, India, China, and the Celtic peoples). Chariots were introduced in the Near East in

9215-536: Was heavily used by the Mycaenean Greeks, most probably adopted from the Hittites, around 1600 BCE. Linear B tablets from Mycenaean palaces record large inventories of chariots, sometimes with specific details as to how many chariots were assembled or not (i.e. stored in modular form).On a gravestone from the royal Shaft-grave V in Mycenae dated LH II (about 1500 BCE) there is one of the earliest depiction of

9312-689: Was used around 800 BCE. As David W. Anthony writes in his book The Horse, the Wheel, and Language , in Eastern Europe, the earliest well-dated depiction of a wheeled vehicle (a wagon with two axles and four wheels) is on the Bronocice pot ( c.  3500 BCE ). It is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker settlement in Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe

9409-690: 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 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

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