BAILEY BRIDGE EXAM PREPARATION
TEST BANK WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
●● What are the 11 primary bridge-design requirements?
Answer: Safety; resistance; serviceability; suitability; buildability;
durability; maintainability; sustainability; resilience; elegance; economy.
●● What is a multi-modal bridge?
Answer: A bridge that accommodates several transportation modes
simultaneously.
●● How can a bridge act as a research laboratory?
Answer: By carrying monitoring systems such as wireless sensor
networks on stay cables, footbridges or railway bridges.
●● How can bridges serve border functions?
Answer: As international boundary crossings.
●● How have bridges historically served tax collection?
Answer: As toll bridges.
●● What is the key design principle regarding additional bridge
functions?
,Answer: Additional functions affect structural design and cannot be
neglected; bridge design should be integral and holistic.
●● What four things define a structural solution?
Answer: Materials and grades; structural type; shape and dimensions of
members; construction method.
●● Give examples of structural types.
Answer: Beam, arch, cable-stayed and suspension.
●● Which solution variables are proposed in bridge design?
Answer: Materials; structural type; shape and dimensions; construction
method.
●● Which resources constrain the bridge-design solution?
Answer: Economic resources, technical resources, available construction
methods, available materials and the available construction period.
●● Why are bridge-design problems described as real open problems?
Answer: They do not have a unique solution; alternatives must be
proposed by the designer rather than obtained from a single
mathematical equation.
●● What are the four stages of bridge design?
,Answer: 1. Formulation of the approach; 2. Conceptual design; 3.
Comparison and selection; 4. Detailed design.
●● What happens in Stage 1: Formulation of the Approach?
Answer: The requirements are established and the available design and
construction resources are considered.
●● What happens in Stage 2: Conceptual Design?
Answer: Different design alternatives are proposed and preliminarily
analysed.
●● Which limit-state issues are assessed during conceptual design?
Answer: Safety and serviceability requirements.
●● Which economic issue is assessed during conceptual design?
Answer: Cost requirements through preliminary cost estimation.
●● Which non-structural considerations are assessed during conceptual
design?
Answer: Aesthetic, landscape, environmental, territorial-integration and
sustainable-design considerations.
●● What happens in Stage 3: Comparison and Selection?
, Answer: Alternatives are assessed using multi-criteria analysis and the
best solution is selected.
●● What happens in Stage 4: Detailed Design?
Answer: Detailed structural analysis, design refinement, structural-
response assessment, verification of all limit states, detail drawings and
production of technical documents.
●● What is the superstructure of a bridge?
Answer: The part that directly supports the platform or deck, usually
above bearing level.
●● What is the substructure of a bridge?
Answer: The part that receives loading from the superstructure and
transmits it to the foundations, usually the piers and abutments.
●● What is the load-support sequence in a jointed bridge?
Answer: Deck → bearings → piers or abutments → foundations.
●● Where are expansion joints usually provided in a jointed bridge?
Answer: At the ends of the deck.
●● What are the three main functions of bridge bearings?
TEST BANK WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
●● What are the 11 primary bridge-design requirements?
Answer: Safety; resistance; serviceability; suitability; buildability;
durability; maintainability; sustainability; resilience; elegance; economy.
●● What is a multi-modal bridge?
Answer: A bridge that accommodates several transportation modes
simultaneously.
●● How can a bridge act as a research laboratory?
Answer: By carrying monitoring systems such as wireless sensor
networks on stay cables, footbridges or railway bridges.
●● How can bridges serve border functions?
Answer: As international boundary crossings.
●● How have bridges historically served tax collection?
Answer: As toll bridges.
●● What is the key design principle regarding additional bridge
functions?
,Answer: Additional functions affect structural design and cannot be
neglected; bridge design should be integral and holistic.
●● What four things define a structural solution?
Answer: Materials and grades; structural type; shape and dimensions of
members; construction method.
●● Give examples of structural types.
Answer: Beam, arch, cable-stayed and suspension.
●● Which solution variables are proposed in bridge design?
Answer: Materials; structural type; shape and dimensions; construction
method.
●● Which resources constrain the bridge-design solution?
Answer: Economic resources, technical resources, available construction
methods, available materials and the available construction period.
●● Why are bridge-design problems described as real open problems?
Answer: They do not have a unique solution; alternatives must be
proposed by the designer rather than obtained from a single
mathematical equation.
●● What are the four stages of bridge design?
,Answer: 1. Formulation of the approach; 2. Conceptual design; 3.
Comparison and selection; 4. Detailed design.
●● What happens in Stage 1: Formulation of the Approach?
Answer: The requirements are established and the available design and
construction resources are considered.
●● What happens in Stage 2: Conceptual Design?
Answer: Different design alternatives are proposed and preliminarily
analysed.
●● Which limit-state issues are assessed during conceptual design?
Answer: Safety and serviceability requirements.
●● Which economic issue is assessed during conceptual design?
Answer: Cost requirements through preliminary cost estimation.
●● Which non-structural considerations are assessed during conceptual
design?
Answer: Aesthetic, landscape, environmental, territorial-integration and
sustainable-design considerations.
●● What happens in Stage 3: Comparison and Selection?
, Answer: Alternatives are assessed using multi-criteria analysis and the
best solution is selected.
●● What happens in Stage 4: Detailed Design?
Answer: Detailed structural analysis, design refinement, structural-
response assessment, verification of all limit states, detail drawings and
production of technical documents.
●● What is the superstructure of a bridge?
Answer: The part that directly supports the platform or deck, usually
above bearing level.
●● What is the substructure of a bridge?
Answer: The part that receives loading from the superstructure and
transmits it to the foundations, usually the piers and abutments.
●● What is the load-support sequence in a jointed bridge?
Answer: Deck → bearings → piers or abutments → foundations.
●● Where are expansion joints usually provided in a jointed bridge?
Answer: At the ends of the deck.
●● What are the three main functions of bridge bearings?
