Concrete Bridge Design and Construction. No. 4: Types of concrete bridge

A new series from the Concrete Bridge Development Group (CBDG). This article demonstrates the benefits of using concrete.

This article examines the prestressing for a concrete bridge. Prestressing enhances the capacity of a member that is weak in tension, but strong in compression. It effectively creates a new material that is strong in tension. A prestressed bridge has much less steel to be handled, which reduces congestion, leading to easier and quicker concrete placing.

The final article in this series examines the long-term management of concrete bridges. The inspection and assessment of a bridge over its entire life, the maintenance requirements and possible strengthening to upgrade the bridge to a new load configuration or revised layout are discussed.