Bridges are great symbols of mankind’s conquest of space. They are a monument to his vision and determination, but these alone are not enough. An appreciation of the mathematical theories underlying bridge design is essential to resist the physical forces of nature and gravity.

The object of this book is to explain firstly the nature of the problems associated with the building of bridges with steel as the basic material, and then the theories that are available to tackle them.

The book covers:

• a technological history of the different types of iron and steel bridges


• the basic properties of steel


• loads on bridges from either natural or traffic-induced forces


• the process and aims of design based on limit state and statistical probability concepts


• buckling behaviour of various components and large-deflection behaviour of components with initial imperfections


• detailed guidance on the design of plate and box girder bridges together with some design examples

The Second Edition includes a completely new chapter on the history and design of cable-stayed bridges, the various types of cable used for them and their method of construction, and it addresses many of the changes introduced in the latest version of the British Standard Design Code for steel bridges, BS 5400: Part 3:2000.