Civil Engineering Photos

Photo Credit: Karl Jansen

This is a roller support. It is one of the most common types of structural supports used by civil engineers. This roller support allows for the supported structure to move horizontally, while the upward reaction force prevents the structure from falling down. The single reaction force is always perpendicular to the surface and in the direction away from that surface (normal). This type of support is often found at one end of a long bridge, allowing the bridge to expand and shrink with the natural temperature changes.

Photo Credit: Jessie Benaglio

Pictured above is an elevator shaft being build in Cinque Terre, Italy, which consists of five little towns on the North West coast on the Mediterranean. This coastal town is full of hills and steps and does not have any regulations for those that are handicapped. This elevator will help allow those with disabilities to access more of the towns.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Seen here is a pedestrian bridge over I-75 in Detroit, Michigan. This type of bridge is important because it allows pedestrians to cross to the other side of the freeway without crossing on the road level or having to go to the nearest street crossing bridge. When new highways are being planned and approved features such as pedestrian bridges and sound barriers are many times included. These features are aimed at local people near the project to allow them to live and work near such highways as comfortably as possible.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Seen here is the end of the Ambassador Bridge that extends from Detroit, MI, USA to Windsor, Ontario, Canada over the Detroit River. This particular picture is of the ramp up to a proposed second crossing. However, the permits were not issued and the project was therefore halted and now stands with a drop off to nowhere. The lesson from this is quite straight forward: get your permits before you start the project or you may end up with a useless piece of infrastructure.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

As seen here bridges don’t always carry people in cars or trains over obstacles. This is a bridge in Detroit, Michigan at the Ford Motor Company Rouge River Plant. This factory is so large that roads actually pass through the complex requiring utilities, such as steam pipes, to cross the road to access different parts of the plant.

Photo Credit: Karl Jansen

Pictured here is the steel structural frame of the new Sangren Hall building currently being constructed at Western Michigan University. The load paths can be seen nicely here: the beams which are connected to the girders, and then to the columns which transfer the loads down to the foundation where it is loaded safely upon the earth.

Photo Credit: Karl Jansen

Pictured here is a retaining wall constructed using steel. A retaining wall is used when there is a large elevation difference in a short horizontal distance. In this case, the pond on the left of the photo is much lower than the parking area on the right of the photo. Retaining walls hold back the earth for the higher land to remain stable from erosion.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Featured today is a bascule bridge, often called a drawbridge, which carries rail traffic over the Rogue River near Detroit, Michigan. A bascule bridge allows the operators to lift the main span out of the way of the river when large ships need to gain access upstream. The bridge works by using a large counterweight to displace the weight of the span. The use of a counterweight allows for relatively easy opening and closing because less energy is needed per motion than if the motors of the bridge needed to raise and lower the total weight of the bridge all by themselves.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

This is a classic example of a steel railroad bridge. This bridge is constructed of built up members of steel and is simply supported. Look closely on the left side of the span and an actual hinge can be seen. This hinge allows the span to rotate freely, but will inhibit any vertical and translational motion. Simply supported beams allow for a simplified analysis as well as very predictable behavior under loading conditions.