Review on the Development of Truss Bridges

Abstract

Bridges will always be an important project on human beings’ development. The society is in continuous decelopment, and the construction never stop, thus, the demand for bridges has been increasing for thousands of years. The bridge which can take more loads whilst using less materials will replace old one. And then the truss structure and truss bridges gradually come into public’s view. For the special triangle structure applied on them, the truss structure and truss bridges become of vital important in engineering, using the truss structure on the bridges which have long span can save a lot of money, and because of its special triangle structure, truss bridges can get the same or even more intensity than other bridges in different material. And the development of the truss can be tracked back to the simple wood structure, whilst the current truss bridges use some new materials such as shape memory alloys and modified reinforced concrete. The current study gives an overview on the development history about truss bridges in all ages from China to the world, and will discuss the alternative from material to the structure.