The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to bridges:

Bridges – a structure built to span physical obstacles without closing the way underneath such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle.

What type of thing is a bridge?

Bridges can be described as all of the following:

• A structure – An arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized.
• A thoroughfare – A road connecting one location to another.

Types of bridges

• Beam Bridge
• Truss Bridge
  • Truss arch bridge
• Cantilever Bridge
• Stressed ribbon bridge
• Arch Bridge
  • Tied Arch Bridge
  • Through arch bridge
  • Skew arch
• Suspension Bridge
  • Cable-stayed bridge
• Simple suspension bridge
  • Inca rope bridge
• Tubular bridge
• Extradosed bridge
• Moveable Bridge
  • Drawbridge (British English definition) – the bridge deck is hinged on one end
  • Bascule bridge – a drawbridge hinged on pins with a counterweight to facilitate raising ; road or rail
    • Rolling bascule bridge – an unhinged drawbridge lifted by the rolling of a large gear segment along a horizontal rack
  • Folding bridge – a drawbridge with multiple sections that collapse together horizontally
  • Curling bridge – a drawbridge with transverse divisions between multiple sections that curl vertically
  • Fan Bridge - a drawbridge with longitudinal divisions between multiple bascule sections that rise to various angles of elevation, forming a fan arrangement.
  • Vertical-lift bridge – the bridge deck is lifted by counterweighted cables mounted on towers ; road or rail
  • Table bridge – a lift bridge with the lifting mechanism mounted underneath it
  • Retractable bridge (Thrust bridge) – the bridge deck is retracted to one side
  • Submersible bridge – also called a ducking bridge, the bridge deck is lowered into the water
  • Tilt bridge – the bridge deck, which is curved and pivoted at each end, is lifted at an angle
  • Swing bridge – the bridge deck rotates around a fixed point, usually at the centre, but may resemble a gate in its operation ; road or rail
  • Transporter bridge – a structure high above carries a suspended, ferry-like structure
  • Jet bridge – a passenger bridge to an airplane. One end is mobile with height, yaw, and tilt adjustments on the outboard end
  • Guthrie rolling bridge
  • Vlotbrug, a design of retractable floating bridge in the Netherlands
  • Locks are implicitly bridges as well allowing ship traffic to flow when open and at least foot traffic on top when closed
• Rigid-frame bridge
• Side-spar cable-stayed bridge
• Segmental bridge
• Multi-Level Bridges
• Viaduct
• Vierendeel bridge
• Toll bridge
• Footbridge
  • Clapper bridge
  • Moon bridge
  • Step-stone bridge
  • Zig-zag bridge
  • Plank
  • Boardwalk
  • Joist
• Multi-way bridge
  • Three-Way Bridge
  • Four-Way Bridge
  • Five-Way Bridge
• Trestle bridge
  • Coal trestle
• Transporter bridge
• Log bridge
• Packhorse bridge
• Aqueduct

Military Bridges

• AM 50
• Armoured vehicle-launched bridge
• Bailey bridge
• Callender-Hamilton bridge
• Mabey Logistic Support Bridge
• Medium Girder Bridge
• Pontoon bridge

History of bridges

History of bridges

General bridges concepts

• Bending The behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element.
• Compression (physics) The application of balanced inward ("pushing") forces to different points on a material or structure, that is, forces with no net sum or torque directed so as to reduce its size in one or more directions.
• Shear stress The component of stress coplanar with a material cross section.
• Span (engineering) The distance between two intermediate supports for a structure.
• Tension (physics) The pulling force transmitted axially by the means of a string, cable, chain, or similar one-dimensional continuous object, or by each end of a rod, truss member, or similar three-dimensional object; tension might also be described as the action-reaction pair of forces acting at each end of said elements.
• Torsion (mechanics) The twisting of an object due to an applied torque.
  • Torque The rate of change of angular momentum of an object.

Bridges companies

• Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT)
• Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF)
• Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT)
• Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD)
• California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
• Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)
• Connecticut Department of Transportation (CONNDOT)
• Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT)
• Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
• Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT)
• Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT)
• Idaho Transportation Department (ITD)
• Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
• Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT)
• Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT)
• Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT)
• Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC)
• Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD)
• Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT)
• Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT)
• Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
• Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT)
• Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT)
• Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT)
• Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT)
• Montana Department of Transportation (MDT)
• Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT)
• Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT)
• New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT)
• New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT)
• New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT)
• New York
  • New York State Bridge Authority
  • New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)
  • New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA)
• North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)
• North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT)
• Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
• Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT)
• Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)
• Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)
• Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP)
• Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT)
• South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT)
• South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT)
• Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
• Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
• Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT)
• Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans)
• Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)
• Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
• West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT)
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT)
• Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT)

Notable Bridges

• Akashi Kaikyō Bridge
• Alcantara Bridge
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Chapel Bridge
• Charles Bridge
• Chengyang Bridge
• Chesapeake Bay Bridge
• Gateshead Millennium Bridge
• George Washington Bridge
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Great Belt Bridge
• Hangzhou Bay Bridge
• Mackinac Bridge
• Millau Viaduct
• Ponte Vecchio
• Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls)
• Rialto Bridge
• Royal Gorge Bridge
• Seri Wawasan Bridge
• Seven Mile Bridge
• Stari Most
• Sunshine Skyway Bridge
• Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Tacoma Narrows Bridges
• The Confederation Bridge
• The Helix Bridge
• Tower Bridge
• Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
• Tsing Ma Bridge