Bridges: Aesthetics and Design - Hardcover

Leonhardt, Fritz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262121050 ISBN 13: 9780262121057

Publisher: Mit Pr, 1984

Synopsis

This beautifully illustrated book describes the development of bridges from the primitive wooden beam and masonry arch to today's large steel and prestressed concrete structures spanning rivers and valleys and highways. The author, who has taught at the University of Stuttgart for many years, is one of Europe's leading structural engineers. This is his account of what he has learned from a lifetime devoted to the design of bridges. His selection of photographs, including over 300 in full color, is exceptional, with examples chosen to illustrate key design ideas. Care has been taken to show each bridge from the best possible angle with attention to depth, detail, and color.

Chapters take up design and aesthetics in bridge construction, discussing the influence of alignment and of building materials, and cover particular kinds of structures such as old stone bridges, bridges at grade-separated junctions, elevated streets, large beam bridges, large arch and frame bridges, and cable-stayed and suspension bridges.

Bridges is included in The MIT Press Series in Structural Mechanics, edited by H. Max Irvine.

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: German, English

Review:

"Fritz Leonhardt has been the most important innovator in the design of bridges in Europe since the Second World War. He has been responsible for many of the most original and exciting bridges built in Germany as part of the reconstruction program and the expansion of the Autobahn network. During this time he has developed a keen awareness of the principles of structural behavior and how to express them elegantly.... Leonhardt is at his best when showing why particular design decisions have led to a satisfactory overall bridge concept and in showing how the detailing changes one's perception of a bridge's form ... it is a beautiful and comprehensive book which I feel will be indispensable to anyone wishing to design bridges or to anyone interested in the art of bridge making."
—Peter Rice, Architectural Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0262121050
• ISBN 13: 9780262121057
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 308