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ECV 3902 CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN PROJECT SESSION REPORT Date Time Venue Speaker Title Audience 1st

April 2013 3.00 AM 5.00 PM Dewan Seminar, Engineering Faculty, UPM Ir. Amir Bin Ismail Introduction To Bridge Design Final Year Undergraduates of Civil Engineering

SESSION DETAILS During the beginning of the session, Ir. Amir shared with us numerous stories in regards to bridge designing. Firstly, he shared with us the story of Anji Bridge which was built between 585 and 605AD. It is a stone bridge and it is the worlds oldest open spandrel segmental arched masonry bridge with a span of 37.7 m. Legend has that this bridge is constructed by an inspired human with the help of spirits. In an introduction to bridge design, Ir. Amir also stated how bridges are being used by different artistes as components in their drawings. Example, in the background of the drawing of Mona Lisa, there is a bridge drawing. This shows how much the painter of this picture, Leonardo Da Vinci appreciate the structure of bridges in his drawings. Besides that, great artist such as Claude Monet, Van Gogh, William Turner, David Hockney and Plau Klee all integrated bridges as part of the main components in their drawings. These also proves that bridge design can be artistic and at the same time, be an amazing engineering feat.

Besides artistic, bridge engineering also showcase the power and expertise of engineering of a nation. Example, Roman bridges plays a vital role in consolidating and spreading Roman power and maintaining its civilization yet still, combining beauty with function. Bridges are being built by the Roman Empire to travel through valleys and lands for their armies and their people. However, these bridges are built with an element of beauty combined with function and therefore, bridges during the Roman Empire are a masterpiece of art and engineering. Generally, bridges are classified and separately called by their purpose. Road or highway bridges are bridges that are built on the road and highways. Railway bridges are any bridge that were built on railways. Flyover or Overpass Bridges are bridges that were meant for grade separation with other roads, highways or railways at intersection. Viaducts are bridges that supports elevated roads, highways or railways, which are mainly built at ground space limited in urban area or soft ground as embankment will be difficult. Footbridges are bridges for pedestrian crossing. There are two general types of bridges which are fixed and movable. Fixed bridges are usually classified by their basic geometry such as arches, trusses, beams, girder, suspension and cable stayed. Meanwhile, movable bridges are more complex structures having machinery for opening a portion of bridge, allowing the passage of ships or other traffic through the bridge. Example of a movable bridge is a bascule bridge which is a bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. Among the few types of span designed for bridges are:

Bridges in Malaysia are designed according to the Limit State Design which are basically divided into ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state. The design life is according to what is defined in BS5400 which is 120 years. The general philosophy governing the application of the loads is that the worst effects of loads should be sought. The design criteria are given in Part 4: BS 5400 under the heading of ultimate limit state, serviceability limit state and other considerations. There are a few types of construction method that were being used in the Malaysia for bridges. The conventional construction method will be to construct the RC pier and capping

beam before the roadway/middle span is constructed or sometimes elevated. Then there is the sosrobahu construction method whereby this method is useful when construction work can only be done is a very small area. The pier and beam is constructed horizontally with the road in the area first and once done, it will be turn vertically which then, beam is already elevated above the road. This will make it easier for bridges to be constructed. Normally, bridges are exposed to the risk of corrosion due to water overflowing in the river or waterway, due to weathering, airborne chloride and scouring. The repair and maintenance of bridges can sometimes cause a very long period of time to be done. The figure below shows the lifecycle of the construction of bridges:-

KEY MESSAGES 1. Bridge engineering is a field consisted of artistic passion and engineering expertise. 2. Bridges provides many different purposes for human to travel from one side of a land to another. 3. As a bridge engineer, one has to be able to run the lifecycle of the project again and again to make sure the bridge is always in good condition for the next 120 years after completion. CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the session provided by Ir. Amir was indeed insightful and provides a new perspective towards the introduction of bridge design. Along with the introduction to bridge design, Ir. Amir also provides many inspirations in regards to principles, values and attitude towards being a professional in the field of bridge engineering.

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