Beam bridge

Beam bridges are the simplest structural forms for bridge spans supported by an abutment or pier at each end. No moments are transferred throughout the support, hence their structural type is known as simply supported.

The simplest beam bridge could be a log (see log bridge), a wood plank, or a stone slab (see clapper bridge) laid across a stream. Bridges designed for modern infrastructure will usually be constructed of steel or reinforced concrete, or a combination of both. The concrete elements may be reinforced, prestressed or post-tensioned.

Types of construction could include having many beams side by side with a deck across the top of them, to a main beam either side supporting a deck between them. The main beams could be I-beams (also known as H-beams), trusses, or box girders. They could be half-through, or braced across the top to create a through bridge.

Because no moments are transferred, thrust, as from an arch bridge, cannot be accommodated, so leading to innovative designs, such as lenticular trusses & bow string arches, which contain the horizontal forces within the superstructure.

Sampford Arundel

Coordinates: 50°57′32″N 3°16′33″W / 50.9589°N 3.2757°W / 50.9589; -3.2757

Sampford Arundel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated near Wellington and 10 miles (16.1 km) south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The village has a population of 268.

The parish, which lies at the western end of the Blackdown Hills, includes the hamlets of Bagley Green, Sampford Moor, White Ball and Beam Bridge where a temporary terminus of the Bristol and Exeter Railway was established in 1843 until the line was completed to Exeter in 1844.

There is a Junior School, an interesting church and an old telephone box. There are no shops and few street lamps. There is a cricket club and the main attraction for visitors is the countryside.

History

The first part of the name 'Sampford' means sandy ford and the second part 'Arundel' commemorates Roger Arundel who was granted the manor by the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, and to differentiate the village from Sampford Brett.