Rigid-Frame Bridge


A rigid-frame bridge is a load resistant skeleton constructed with straight or curved members. It is a simple structure with top and sides of one solid piece of reinforced concrete.  It is specially designed to resist bending, shearing, and axis loads. This type of bridge was cheaper to construct and easy to maintain and stronger than traditional bridges for its day.  Wilbur Wilson, a professor of Civil Engineering and researcher of the fatigue of structures at the University of Illinois was a tremendous advocate of this type of structure.



Image of Rigid-Frame Bridge


Work Cited:
Kingery, Alan, Rudy D. Berg, and E. H. Schillinger. Men and Ideas in Engineering; Twelve Histories from Illinois. Urbana: Published for the College of Engineering, U of Illinois, by the U of Illinois, 1967. Print.