Settlement of Simply Supported Bridge

Abstract

When a simply supported bridge is treated by the usual method of calculation, where its different plane surfaces are considered to act independently of each other, settlement of one of its bearings does not create any additional stresses. However, if the same bridge is treated as a space structure, where all carrier surfaces act together to resist all loads, settlement of one of the bearings will give rise to additional stresses in all surfaces of the bridge. The carrying surfaces method treats bridges as space structures and is used to calculate the additional stresses introduced in a simply supported bridge with different angles of skew, due to a settlement of one of its supports.