Arches, or so I would guess, are the strongest
designs. How are they tested?Good question. I'm
sure that they are tested by subjecting them to
carrying weights such as they would be expected to
carry. Thereafter, they are rated as being able to
carry that weight. Of course, this is just the
largest weight that they are known to be able to
carry; they can probably carry larger weights, but
this is dangerous because it is not known where
the point of failure will be.
materials are the Biphasic materials composed of
something with great tensile strength (e.g.
protein) and something with great compressional
strength (e.g. a mineral) will make the strongest
bridges, but so far only living organisms are able
to build materials like that, and when they do
they are sufficiently porous because they primary
function in other ways than just to provide
support (e.g. wood is used by trees to carry water
through the plant, in addition to hold it up). As
a result, something solid, but less structurally
strong, makes for stronger bridges. Metals are a
good choice,and I think that most modern bridges
are made out of steel.
There goes a lot of
planning into the design.
The bridges are
not terribly often checked. It probably depends on
the bridge.I'm sure some are never checked, except
by the traffic moving over them.
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