Thought this might be fun for some of you who like this kind of thing and for those who despise engineers to play engineer!
I am going to design a bridge (grad school project) out of either steel or prestressed concrete, and this is the proposed location for where the bridge is going to go. Cost effectiveness plays a big part. For example, when the piers get larger cost of them increases non linearly, however not as much cut will have to be made into existing terrain. Or on another token, the more piers you have, the smaller your girders will be however there will be additional cost for the added pier(s). Don't worry about this stuff when making a conceptual design. Lets just say it will be a 2 lane bridge.
Another thing to keep in mind: When you start exceeding ~35meters your girders start to get a lot more expensive quick. So dont just try a 150m girder across the bridge and say done. That won't work
Challenge To You guys: Come up with a conceptual design for your bridge. Where would you place your piers, girders, and consequentially your cut and fill? Lets call the bottom of bridge minimum at 187 m. I have a few ideas of my own. I will take the best ideas out of pool and run cost analysis on all and see which one will be the least expensive and most efficient.
To get the ball rolling, here's the simplest design I sketched up rather quickly in paint. Two span simply supported prestressed conc girders with one pier. Girders will be huge. Two piers may be more efficient. Anyways here's to get the ball rolling.
