Bridge Engineering - Secondary Joint Definition 2

[ICurtis]

Hi,

What does the term "Secondary Joint" mean in terms of Bridges? Does it refer to the expansion joints?

Thanks.

 

[ICurtis]

Hi,

Is there a reason I am not getting any responses?

Thanks.

 

[dhengr]

I’m still on my first one tonight, so I don’t need a secondary one.
Ask your boss or the person who used that terminology, and when they explain, if you know what they are talking about, just say you had never heard it called that before. Otherwise, you have learned something, and are the better and smarter for it. More and more, these days, there seem to be ten clever names for the same thing and half the time the guy using a term is just trying to impress, with a new term, and knows no more than you do. If it was common terminology for a specific joint you probably would have gotten a reply already.

 

[Qshake]

Try also putting the terminology in a context so we may better understand how it was used when you heard it.

As dhengr notes if it was common terminology, we'd have an answer for you.

I've been involved in bridges and heavy infrastructure too many years to count and do not recall the term used. It's also somewhat convoluted since joints can mean several things. There are expansion joints, compression joints, connection joints and so on. There are primary members and secondary members. Since on major bridges an expansion joint may be very large whereas a compression joint is not, perhaps that is a secondary joint. Also, if a connection joins two secondary members maybe that is a secondary joint.

Need more info.

good luck.

Regards,
Qshake

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[ICurtis]

Thanks for your help. Good to know that I'm not missing something obvious. I did not ask at the time (because of ego) and also I thought surely that would be a common thing and easy to find out. I think next time I would prefer to look stupid/ignorant than to not to ask (although that is easier said than done).

 

[dhengr]

Icurtis:
If you were missing something, so are Qshake and I and we’ve been around for a while. If you’re missing it, maybe it isn’t so obvious to anyone. Watch here for a while, and you’ll see many different terms used to describe the same thing; sometimes depending upon regional terminology differences, sometimes by country of origin, sometimes a guy trying to impress us all with how smart he is by using terminology that he doesn’t even understand, just heard it and it sounded cool. I don’t think it was ego you were suffering from, it may have been a bit of feeling embarrassed for not knowing everything, but most of us suffer from that condition too, UNLESS we let our egos take over. If you have a reasonable amount on the ball, and listen carefully and think a bit before you ask, there aren’t really many stupid or ignorant questions. And, as I said above, sometimes you just pass it off with “I guess I never heard it called that.” Sometimes it turns out the other guy was the fool in the first place. There really aren’t many really dumb questions, as long as you are truly engaged in the project, and willing to learn. Try to find some people; bosses, supervisors, mentors within or outside your company who don’t mind well reasoned questions and are willing to have a meaningful exchange with you. We all had to start someplace, and there are a lot of smart people out there willing to help you along.