DSGN119 - Design as a Generic Tool

Professor M Neil James - Web page http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/si

Case Studies of Structural Design

Millenium Bridge

The history of bridges is littered with examples where structural integrity was sacrificed (usually unwittingly) to elegance.  The classic case is Tacoma Narrows, but the most recent is that of the Millenium Bridge across the Thames River.

The concept

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The actualisation

   

The problem

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Whilst the bridge achieves elegance, and is apparently, structurally sound, the failure falls into that category of 'excessive elastic deflection', which people find psychologically disturbing to walk upon.   A double curvature, as per the Bilbao bridge may have assisted in solving this problem, although the span might be too long for such a solution.