Materials

Brick, stone, cast iron, wrought iron, steel, mild steel, high-tensile steels, alloy steels, aluminium, steel-reinforced concrete, pre-stressed concrete, post-stressed concrete, glass-reinforced plastic.  These are some of the materials that are available for bridge building.

Bending, compression, impact, oscillation, pressure, tension, torsion, vibration; contraction, corrosion, expansion, fatigue, friction, rain, river flow, sea-water, scouring, temperature, tidal flow, turbulence, waves, wind erosion, wind pressure.  These are some of the stresses that materials must withstand, in a variety of combinations.

This page has only just been started.