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Art&Engingeering - The Rolling Square Bridge 5

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human909

human909

Structural
Mar 19, 2018
1,942
I thought I'd share this. It is neither a question nor so I present particularly insightful commentary on it. I just though that it was a beautiful combination of art and mathematics into one of structural engineering's oldest challenges, bridge design. To whet your appetite. The openable bridge is hand operated!

90_d5riwg.jpg


90_kbs23q.jpg


90_q7jt5p.gif


A great overview of what is going on is here:

It focusses more on the mathematics than on the structure which probably isn't particularly novel once all the other stuff is sorted.

Enjoy
 
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Very cool.... I had to watch the video to genuinely understand what problem this bridge was solving.
 
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That is just insane and quirky, and looks beautiful in an industrial type of way. I love this kind of stuff.
 
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milkshakelake said:
That is just insane and quirky, and looks beautiful in an industrial type of way. I love this kind of stuff.
Click to expand...

Honestly, when I look at that bridge it doesn't look very costly. Especially for something that can be such a unique and cool part of the neighborhood.
 
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OK, neat. Why did they restrict the size of boat with that rectangular construction in the bottom of the channel?

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376
 
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I believe that was a previous construction. As I understand it the dock only caters for low draft barges around high tide. But do you own research.

Have a look at Google maps of this area to show the tight fit of the barges!
 
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Iam afraid some kids will end up in channel for sure (kids nature say So)
They should add some safety nets.
 
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ALK2415 said:
Iam afraid some kids will end up in channel for sure (kids nature say So)
They should add some safety nets.
Click to expand...

Sure, but not due to the bridge.

If kids end up in the channel they can swim out. That is not abnormal when kids get around water. Why have safety nets when water is one big safety net.
 
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I think the gif is a bit misleading...if it actually rolled that fast, I agree it would be dangerous. But if you watch the video, they talk about it taking 20 minutes to manually crank the bridge over. If somebody is on the bridge when they start rolling it and they can't get off in time and fall in the water...you're dealing with a level of stupidity or malignity that no net could ever prevent.

human - using the water as a safety net is great, assuming 1) you know how to and are physically capable of swimming and 2) there's not a barge there to land on.
 
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using the water as a safety net is great, assuming...there's not a barge there to land on.
Click to expand...

Presumably, if they need to roll the bridge for a barge, they'd have to do it before the barge got there.
 
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phamENG said:
I think the gif is a bit misleading...if it actually rolled that fast
Click to expand...
As you point out it is a gif. You have to be pretty naïve think that is a real time video. Surely the disappearing and reappearing people is a big give away.

phamENG said:
I agree it would be dangerous. But if you watch the video, they talk about it taking 20 minutes to manually crank the bridge over. If somebody is on the bridge when they start rolling it and they can't get off in time and fall in the water...you're dealing with a level of stupidity or malignity that no net could ever prevent.

human - using the water as a safety net is great, assuming 1) you know how to and are physically capable of swimming and 2) there's not a barge there to land on.
Click to expand...
Again I would have thought that it would be obvious that preventing traffic through a bridge while it was opening was a basic assumption. That is how all of them work, unless you are the Dukes of Hazard of the Blues Brothers.

Regarding safety nets... well yeah if you play around water knowing how to swim is a pretty normal requirement. The Dutch don't fence off their many thousands of canals. They do teach people to swim and be canal safe. Having safety nets next to every canal seems absurd.
 
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human909 said:
Surely the disappearing and reappearing people is a big give away.
Click to expand...

Wait a minute....you mean London's not populated by a bunch of witches? Harry Potter was lying to me!?!?!

In all seriousness - I don't disagree with you. Safety nets everywhere would be insane. There has to be some level of cranial engagement on behalf of the populace. They do have guardrails along this canal and the bridge. The idea of wrapping it in safety nets is silly and self defeating in terms of artistic style.
 
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Just to tidy things up here a bit.

It's actually the river Lea which connects directly to the tidal Thames.

Cody Dock from what I can see as a locked dock area where barges could unload etc.

The dock appears to have been bricked up, lock gate removed and abandoned and they put a footbridge over the wall. Everything has become silted up and a large barge moored in the way.

Now they want to reopen the old dock area and provide access to the river Lee for vessels which at high tide need a bit more height clearance than a static footbridge at ground level.

Hence the bridge.

But really neat. See also the falkirk wheel if you like rotating structures...

And the Newcastle to Gateshead millenium bridge.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
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Remebering when i was a kid !
and when i see something like this "revolving", i will jump to it blindly and others will do the same
its an Open Invitation!
Safety is major part of our job description if i remember right.
 
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"Revolving" is a bit of a stretch. More like "slowly and almost imperceptibly tilting".
 
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" This symmetry allows the whole bridge structure to smoothly role through 180 degrees to a fully inverted position facilitating movement of boats from the river to the dock. "

role. ROLE. ROLE!

 
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I think it's a brilliant idea from Mechanical/structural Engineering (see attached picture)

construction-of-gear-racks_h4hl6n.jpg


this linear movement using gearing-rack {similar to concrete hydraulic jack testing machine adjusting arm}.
 
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