 An animation showing how a vertical-lift bridge operates with vehicular and shipping traffic | |
| Ancestor | Truss bridge |
|---|---|
| Related | Bascule bridge, swing bridge, folding bridge, retractable bridge |
| Descendant | Submersible bridge, table bridge |
| Carries | Automobile, pedestrians, truck, light rail, heavy rail |
| Span range | Short |
| Material | Steel |
| Movable | Yes |
| Design effort | medium |
| Falsework required | Depends upon degree of prefabrication |
A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck.
The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swing-span bridges. Generally speaking, they cost less to build for longer moveable spans.[1] The counterweights in a vertical lift are only required to be equal to the weight of the deck, whereas bascule bridge counterweights must weigh several times as much as the span being lifted. As a result, heavier materials can be used in the deck, and so this type of bridge is especially suited for heavy railroad use. The biggest disadvantage to the vertical-lift bridge (in comparison with many other designs) is the height restriction for vessels passing under it, due to the deck remaining suspended above the passageway.
Most vertical-lift bridges use towers, each equipped with counterweights. An example of this kind was built at La Salle in Illinois, United States in 1929 (and demolished in 2001).[2]
Another design uses balance beams to lift the deck, with pivoting bascules located on the top of the lift towers.[3]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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1/3Views:2 5735 55219 590
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Bridge Operator for Burlington Canal Lift Bridge
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The story of the Cedar Bayou vertical lift bridge in Baytown
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School Science Projects | Lift Bridge Working Model
Transcription
Examples
See List of vertical-lift bridges.
Gallery of images
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One of the vertical-lift bridges over the Gouwe River, built in 1930 -
ASB Bridge in Kansas City, Missouri -
Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge has the longest lift span of any vertical-lift bridge in the world -
![Hawthorne Bridge (in Portland, Oregon, U.S.), built in 1910, the oldest vertical-lift bridge in the United States[4]](/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Hawthorne_Bridge_%28Portland%2C_Oregon%29_from_southwest%2C_2012.jpg/120px-Hawthorne_Bridge_%28Portland%2C_Oregon%29_from_southwest%2C_2012.jpg)
Hawthorne Bridge (in Portland, Oregon, U.S.), built in 1910, the oldest vertical-lift bridge in the United States[4] -
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A lift bridge over the Erie Canal at Lockport, New York -
A lift bridge, elevated at both ends -
A lift bridge near its upward position, pedestrians may cross when it is raised by using stairways -
Small lift bridge in Nowa Sól, Poland -
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See also
- Moveable bridges for a list of other movable bridge types
- Submersible bridge for a similar disappearing bridge
- Table bridge for a vertical-lift bridge without visible lifting means
References
- ^ Troyano (2003), p.731
- ^ Shippingsport Bridge, LaSalle County, Illinois www.bridgehunter.com, accessed 1 August 2023
- ^ Troyano (2003), p.732
- ^ Wood Wortman, Sharon; Wortman, Ed (2006). The Portland Bridge Book (3rd ed.). Urban Adventure Press. p. 68. ISBN 0-9787365-1-6.
Bibliography
- Leonardo Fernandez Troyano (2003). Bridge Engineering: A Global Perspective. Thomas Telford Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7277-3215-6.
External links
Media related to Vertical-lift bridges at Wikimedia Commons
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This page was last edited on 6 October 2023, at 00:04