Cantilever Bridges
Cantilever bridges depend on counterbalances. But what are
counterbalances? Counterbalances are weights used to balance another
weight. They consist of two or more (which many cantilever bridges
have at least four) arms that equally balance each other, almost like
a perfectly balanced see-saw. Often, the part of the bridge that leads
to the first cantilever is just a beam bridge. (You can see this on the cantilever bridge at the top of this page.)
Materials and Construction
Cantilever bridges are built with many materials in different ways.
Some use one arch to connect (and essentially act as) the arm, as
shown in the soon-to-be-here picture below. Others just have arms
and a roadway, or arms, a roadway, and cables that work like a
cable-stayed bridge. Cantilever bridges are built in a way similar to
beam and arch bridges, depending on how the bridge is designed. On
the right is a picture demonstrating how cantilever bridges work.
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