The bridge we chose to select for our research paper is the Blue Water Bridge. The Blue Water Bridge spreads across the St. Clair River and conducts international traffic between Port Huron, Michigan, and Point Edward and Sarnia, Ontario. According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, “Located near the I-94 and I-69 interchange, the bridge forms a critical gateway linking Canada and the United States”. The Blue Water Bridge consists of tolls and inspection plazas on each side of the border where individuals pay for crossing and communication with inspection offices such as Immigration or Customs. The original Blue Water Bridge opened in 1938 and it was renovated in 1993. This bridge is a three-lane westbound bridge. The second …show more content…
In 1985, United States Congress allowed Michigan to increase the toll to gather funds for improvement projects. In 1991, the Federal Highway Administration signed an agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation concerning toll receipts. This agreement allowed the department to fund annual operating cost of the bridge. The $55 million improvement project was completed in November 1996. The Blue Water Bridge is also unique because of its location. It is a major bridge that crosses over the St. Clair River which is located at the southern part of Lake Huron. As mentioned above, the bridge also connects the United States and Canada. The Blue Water Bridge is special because it won several awards for engineering, public relations, and outstanding technical achievement. The climate surrounding the Blue Water bridge is usually seasonal meaning it changes according to the seasons. However, the climate is always …show more content…
However, before doing this we had to look more into depth on the materials we will use to construct our bridge. We also have to consider the possible environmental and geological factors that should be taken into consideration for our model. Pertaining to environmental and geological factors, there are many stipulations that structural engineers take into consideration before the construction of a truss bridge begins. The main objective of the geotechnical engineers are to protect the lives of others and avoid property damage from happening which can be caused by various geological conditions. Geological engineering uses principles of soil and rock mechanics to find surface conditions and materials.The Geotechnical engineers complete works such as: geological hazard assessments, material properties, landslide and slope stability, erosion, flooding, dewatering, and seismic investigations. These engineers closely examine all of these important factors before constructing a bridge in a certain location. According to Teach Engineering.com, constructing a safe and efficient bridge requires an ample amount of time and energy. Environmental and geological factors play a major role in construction, as
Have you ever thought about driving over a suspension bridge held up by cables? That’s what the Mackinac Bridge is. With the building of the Mackinac Bridge there has been many positive effects that have come out of it.
Steven Hermosillo Professor Wallace Fire Tech 105 15 November 2015 Silver Bridge Collapse According to Wikipedia, Forty-six people were killed in the silver-bridge collapse and another nine people were injured. “The Silver Bridge was an eye-bar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio, over the Ohio River” (Wikipedia). This was a highly used bridge serving thousands of cars a day before the collapse.
In the novel, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson, the author capitalizes upon society’s expectation of a character to emphasize the struggle to achieving his goals. Ian, one of the central characters in the plot line, is heavily impacted by these expectations, which hold a substantial influence upon his decision’s regarding his future. To teenagers an expectation: a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future, is nothing but a restriction upon them. Ian believes he is contained within these expectations; to the point where he does not wish to follow this given path. In a time of adolescence, teenagers are compelled by the strong desire to denounce that which is expected of them; Ian is no exception to this. Societies expectations create a negative influence upon Ian’s struggles to achieve his goals. These effects are due to the following expectations: to leave Struan for a superior education, to obtain the opportunity to become successful; to strive for a medical career, since he excels at the trade already; and to settle into a happy relationship, to raise a family.
The concept for the Holland Tunnel was developed in 1906.1 In 1906, a coalition of the New York State and New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission began studies for a bridge connecting lower Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey.2 By the end of World War I (1918), the number of cars and trucks on U.S. roads had skyrocketed. This trend did not differ in the streets of New York City.3 At this time the Hudson River ferries were carrying about 30 million vehicles each year (24,000 vehicles a day3) from New York to New Jersey. This had become a major problem for commuters and a solution was needed.2
When I was a small child, I remember my parents crossing the James River on the ferry in Surry County while taking my brother and me to Jamestown. At the time, I thought it was thrilling to ride the ferry. It was fun to stand out at the bow and watch as we went over the river to the other side where the boats are docked at Jamestown. We fed the birds on the front deck, and I also remember going up into the top of the ferry where they had a seated area that allowed someone to get out of the wind and still be able to see out. As an adult, I no longer have this glowing admiration for the ferry services in Surry. It never fails that when I am approaching the dock; the ferry is pulling away. Thereafter, it will be at least a thirty-minute wait for the next ferry to arrive. As well as, the actual ride across which could be an additional thirty minutes depending on which ferry pulls into the dock. One ferry is extremely slower than the other is. I will go to great lengths to avoid the ferry services to cross the James River to Williamsburg and will rather drive around Newport News than to use the ferry. My husband and I moved to Surry County two years ago, and it would be nice to be able to travel safely to Williamsburg without the added time it takes to cross the James River on the ferry. There has been talk over the years about replacing the ferry services with a bridge; however, those notions are always disregarded. The residents of Surry County would be better served if a bridge were put in place of the ferry at Scotland Wharf.
Quebec Bridge is a riveted steel truss structure with 3,239ft long, 94ft wide and 340ft high. It was built on the main goal of connecting the lower Saint Lawrence River to the west of Quebec City, and Levis, Quebec in Canada. The bridge accommodates three highway lanes, one rail line, and a pedestrian walkway. Before the Quebec Bridge was built, taking a ferry or use the winter-time ice bridge is the only way to travel from the south shore of St. Lawrence in Levis to the north shore in Quebec City. The St. Lawrence River was the main channel of trade for Quebec City during the summer, but it filled with ice during the winter. This situation cut off all the trades entirely between the city until the river iced over and travel was possible again
Michigan is the only state in the union composed to two separated peninsulas. At the closest point, the upper and lower peninsulas are a mere five miles apart. In the early twentieth century, the only way to make the trip across the five miles of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron was to take a boat ride from one side to the other. As businesses expanded and industry grew, the demand to cross the lakes for travel and commerce purposes grew. The only way to cross the lake was by means of a ferry service, which was unable to keep up with consumer demand. Michigan residents were unable to get convenient and frequent transport between the peninsulas. They needed a consistent, fast, and safe way to travel freely from the mainland to the upper-peninsula. In response, the construction of a five-mile-long suspension bridge to link the peninsulas was set into action. The construction of the Mackinac Bridge was greatly significant to the national economy, the field of engineering, the efficiency of travel, and the historic symbolism of the state of Michigan.
He details a long history of ill repair and modifications with the latest modification to the bridge, before it’s collapse taking place in 1997, but still leaving it inadequate to support it’s ever increasing load. From 1967 to 1997 the daily traffic load on the bridge nearly tripled, from 60,000 vehicles per day, to approximately 160,000 per day at the time of it’s collapse. The increased traffic load, along with the increased weight from subsequent modifications, outpaced the bridge’s structural design (LePatner,
Transportation is one of if not the most important means of developing a city and the Bloor Viaduct was a major step forward in building a solid transportation network. In the article, The City, the Country, and Toronto’s Bloor Viaduct, 1897 – 1917, Murnaghan (2013) says, “sites to the east of the Don River were increasingly being settled” (p. 42), and with a dramatically increasing population, many problems will arise. The Rosedale section of the bridge opened for traffic on 29 October 1917, and a year later the Don section opened for traffic (Murnaghan, 2013, p. 46). The Bloor Viaduct was completed the year after, 23 August 1919 (Murnaghan, 2013, p. 46). This transportation network was essential to build for Empires to transport and ship back from “colonies in order to maintain their control and wealth” (Murnaghan, 2013, p. 47-48). Agricultural goods were also much easier to bring into the city that will be used by the growing working class. It is clear building transportation networks is essential to growing a city.
A View from the Bridge. 'Justice is very important here' is spoken by Alfieri in his opening speech. Alfieri is a lawyer representing the official legal system of America. He also acts as a narrator, commentator who is almost like a bystander watching the events but remains powerless to have any impact on them. This is very similar to the chorus, featured in tragedies from ancient Greek playwright, who are a group of on lookers watching and commenting on events but are unable to act upon any of the incidents.
In her essay,”Importance of the Golden Gate Bridge,” Stephanie Stiavetti suggest that “It maintained this point of pride for nearly 25 years until the Verrazano- Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, this historic San Francisco landmark holds its place as the second largest suspension bridge in the country, behind Verrazano Narrows.” Back then, experts thought that it would be impossible to build a bridge across the tides and currents in that area because strong currents and tides would make construction extremely difficult and dangerous. The water is over 500 feet deep in the center of the channel, and along with the area's strong winds and thick fog, the idea of building a bridge there seemed nearly impossible. Despite all of the problems of building a bridge across the Golden Gate, Joseph Strauss was named as lead engineer for the project. Construction began January 5, 1933, and in the end cost more than $35 million to
Hargreaves, Steve. "The High Cost of America's Bad Roads and Bridges." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
thinks the idea of sardines in the ocean is as strange as oranges on a
A bridge is a type of transportation infrastructure that is built to join two separate points of land together. Bridges often undergo construction in order to provide passage over certain obstacles such as bodies of water or geographical depressions. They can be classified in several different ways including by their intended use or by the materials used to make them. A bridge built solely for people to cross over is classified as a pedestrian bridge. Likewise, a bridge made out of wood would be classified as a wooden bridge, while a bridge made out of concrete would be classified as a concrete bridge. However, the most efficient way to classify bridges is according to their structural form (“Bridges,” 2008).
The civil engineering field is about gathering and interpreting data, being able to give technical presentations to colleagues, team work to design and build a project, projects range from the design and construction of dams, bridges, buildings, roads, and water supply systems. In most cases the works of engineers are admired and sought after. Engineers play an important role in the development and improvement of a society. Yet, like other technical and non-engineering careers the civil engineers also face issues, for example, regarding ethics, high energy building consumption, increased soil and coastal erosion, inadequate water quality, traffic congestion, and some poor infrastructures resilience to disasters. Another example is that unfortunately in the United Kingdom, the civil engineering industry is highly fragmented with 93% of companies having 14 or fewer employees which is not always a great idea, as written by John Miles in Civil Engineering Informatics. There is also a need to implement new professional and educational approaches to new challenges and new implications that are needed for the twenty-first century society. This paper will introduce and explain five different issues that civil engineers are currently facing and elaborate about how these challenges interrelate to each other.