How Do Bridges Work?

Amongst the considerations for bridge builders embarking on a project, is the reason for the proposed bridge. That, and the physical geography and available materials influence the style of bridge. There are four main frames, including arch, suspension, beam and cable- stayed. There are three ways to erect piers to support bridges.

How Do Bridges Work? is Roman Belyaev’s superb follow-up to How Does a Lighthouse Work? Like that book, this includes essential information followed by pictorial evidence, alongside examples of that information. These include, for example, illustrations of different bridges, various piers and supports, and thereafter mini-biographies of famous bridge builders.

There is more besides this, as Roman Belyaev enthrals his readers with examples of unusual bridges, including Scotland’s Falkirk Wheel and Moses Bridge in the Netherlands. This crosses ‘the moat to a  seventeenth- century fort’! Thereafter, we read of record-breaking bridges, from the tallest (the viaduct above the Tarn Valley in France), to the longest span (Akashi Kaikyō, Japan). Then there’s a section about iconic bridges. For example, Prague’s Charles Bridge or the Øresund Bridge that connects Copenhagen (Denmark) to Malmö (Sweden). The author concludes with examples of bridges in mythology and art.

How Do Bridges Work? is a thoroughly informative, satisfying and entertaining book. This reader has been reading it constantly, dipping in and out, sharing and observing, for two weeks! Bookwagon recommends this title highly!