Truss Bridge Research Paper

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The first truss bridge was invented in 1844 by Thomas and Caleb Truss. A truss bridge is a bridge supported by a truss. A truss is a structure made out of pieces of material coming together to form triangles. Truss bridges are very strong and there are many different types of truss bridges. Truss bridges are strong for many reasons. One of the reasons truss bridges are strong is because of the way weight is distributed over the bridge. The way a truss works in any situation, whether it be on a building or bridge is that it takes the weight from where you don’t want the weight and put it where you do. For example when you have a bridge with cars driving over it, instead of the the middle of the bridge bearing the weight, the weight is distributed to where the bridge is supported, like the support towers. The triangle structure of the truss is another reason why truss bridges are strong. The reason why triangles make a truss so strong is because triangles are the most sturdy rigid shape. For example if you take three popsicle sticks and you connected them with bolts, no matter how hard you tried the sticks would stay in the same triangle shape. However if you…show more content…
However the four most common types are the Warren truss bridge, the Pratt truss bridge, the Howe truss bridge, and the K- truss bridge. The Warren truss bridge is made out of equilateral triangles. The Warren truss bridge is able to withstand a huge amount of weight and can be built a variety of different ways. The Pratt truss bridge is made out of vertical and diagonal segments that look like N’s. The Howe truss bridge looks like it’s made up many X’s inside boxes. The Howe trusses ability to retain strength even over longs spans made it a very popular choice when building a bridge. The K-truss bridge looks like many K’s coming together to form triangles. Since of the shape of the truss the K-truss reduces the chances of the bridge

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