A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle without blocking 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 the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it.
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world.
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers, from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is in contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the deck are suspended vertically from the main cable, anchored at both ends of the bridge and running between the towers. The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and shorter than suspension bridges. This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier, and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.
The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge, is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait. When completed in 1988, it was the 5th-longest suspension bridge span in the world.
The Osmangazi Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Gulf of İzmit at its narrowest point, 2,620 m (8,600 ft). The bridge links the Turkish city of Gebze to the Yalova Province and carries the O-5 motorway across the gulf.
A suspension bridge supports its structural load with cables, ropes, or chains anchored at each end. Cables on the earliest suspension bridges were anchored in the ground; some modern suspension bridges anchor the cables to the ends of the bridge itself. Earliest suspension bridges had no towers or piers but the majority of larger modern suspension bridges have them. All of the 14 longest bridges in the world are suspension bridges.
An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is typically one whose fabricated deck consists of a structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally with ribs or transversely, or in both directions. This allows the fabricated deck both to directly bear vehicular loads and to contribute to the bridge structure's overall load-bearing behaviour. The orthotropic deck may be integral with or supported on a grid of deck framing members, such as transverse floor beams and longitudinal girders. All these various choices for the stiffening elements, e.g., ribs, floor beams and main girders, can be interchanged, resulting in a great variety of orthotropic panels.
The Bosphorus Bridge, known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and colloquially as the First Bridge, is the oldest and southernmost of the three suspension bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, thus connecting Europe and Asia. The bridge extends between Ortaköy and Beylerbeyi.
Astaldi S.p.A. is an Italian multinational major construction company based in Rome. The group is active in the fields of civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, electromechanical engineering and transportation.
The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, also known as the Third Bosphorus Bridge, is a vehicular bridge over the Bosphorus strait, to the north of Istanbul's two older suspension bridges, the 15 July Martyrs Bridge being the First Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge the Second Bosphorus Bridge. The bridge is located near the entrance to the Black Sea from the Bosphorus strait, between Garipçe in Sarıyer on the European side and Poyrazköy in Beykoz on the Asian side.
The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge is a road suspension bridge in the province of Çanakkale in northwestern Turkey. Situated just south of the coastal towns of Lapseki and Gelibolu, the bridge spans the Dardanelles, about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the Sea of Marmara. The bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world—with a main span of 2,023 m, the bridge surpasses the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (1998) in Japan by 32 m (105 ft).
The Golden Horn Metro Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge carrying the M2 line of the Istanbul Metro across the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. It connects Karaköy and Küçükpazarı on the European side of Istanbul, and is located between the Galata Bridge and Atatürk Bridge, approximately 200 m (660 ft) east of the latter. It is the fourth bridge across the Golden Horn and entered service on February 15, 2014.
A floating suspension bridge is a type of suspension bridge supported by towers built on floating pontoons which are tethered to the seabed. The design is intended to overcome the difficulties of building suspension towers in locations where the water is particularly deep. As of 2021 no such bridges have been built, but a project is underway to build one in Norway, at Bjørnafjord, designed by engineer Ian Firth.
A floating cable-stayed bridge is a type of cable-stayed bridge where the towers float on tension-leg submerged material, tethered to the seabed for buoyancy. No floating cable-stayed bridge has been made or planned yet, a floating suspension bridge has been planned in Norway. This bridge could be more stable horizontally across the bridge than floating suspension bridges, the lateral movement force from the wind and current in the water is a problem trying to be resolved by placing the tethered cables at different angles from the floating platform to the seabed.
