Focusing on the conceptual and preliminary stages in bridge design, this practical reference/text addresses the new conceptual criteria employed when evaluating project proposals-considering factors from engineering principles and architectural aspects to structural aesthetics and environmental impact on rural and urban surroundings. Ideal for practitioners preparing preliminary plans for presentation at bridge design competitions, consultants working on the development of structural construction projects, as well as engineering students desiring a lucid introduction to the subject Containing numerous sample problems, examples, and case studies of bridges from around the world, Preliminary Design of Bridges for Architects and Engineers surveys a wide range of topics, including the historical development of bridges key elements to consider at the preliminary phase of design, such as loads, soil conditions for foundations, initial construction and maintenance costs, safety, and materials commercially available computer programs bridge retrofitting, historical restoration, and upgrading basic parameters as well as new trends in conceptual design and more Complete with bibliographic citations, drawings, and photographs, Preliminary Design of Bridges for Architects and Engineers is an excellent on-the-job reference for civil and structural engineers, architects, landscape architects, environmentalists, planners, transportation specialists, and consultants working on bridge construction projects, as well as an edifying text for upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and continuing-education students in these disciplines.

The art of building dome shell structures has given to the baroque for its assumed pompo- been with us since ancient times. Current ex- sity in glorifying curves. In practical terms amples in the Astrodome, the Superdome, such an attitude in design is clearly mani- the Kingdome, and the Florida Suncoast fested in the present cityscapes that are to- Dome stand to remind us of the counterpoint tally free of arches, domes, shells, and any they play to the Pantheon, S. Sophia, S. other form that is not rectilinear. Is this what Maria del Fiore, and St. Peter. The latter we really want-plans and elevations with may be thought of by some as being ancient only straight lines, ninety-degree angles, or, history, but they are present in the twentieth in some daring cases, forty-five-degree century and hence are a part of our present angles? It does not seem so. and future. Why do scholars continue to Similarly, the curricula in both civil engi- study them? What can they teach us? A re- neering and architecture in structures seem vival of interest in curvilinear structures is to ignore intentionally arches and vaults, lim- under way, as the current examples just cited iting these subjects to graduate programs in thin-shell design as being a specialized eso- testify. At the beginning of this century, under teric subject.