Truss bridges are the oldest known modern types of bridges.

These bridges are constructed by connecting elements through compression, tension or both. Due to the unique structure, in which materials are used efficiently, truss bridges are economical for construction.
Beam Bridge: A beam bridge was derived from the log bridge. It is built from shallow steel beams, box girders and concrete. Highway overpasses, flyovers or walkways are often beam bridges. A horizontal beam supported at its ends comprises the structure of a beam bridge. The construction of a beam bridge is the simplest of all the types of bridges. Truss Bridge: A truss bridge is built by connecting straight elements with the help of pin joints. Owing to the abundance of wood in the United States, truss bridges of the olden times used timbers for compression and iron rods for bearing tension. Truss bridges came to be commonly constructed from the 1870s to the 1930s. Deck truss railroad bridge that extends over the Erie Canal is one of the many famous truss bridges. Arch Bridge: Going by its name, it is arch-shaped and has supports at both its ends. The weight of an arch-shaped bridge is forced into the supports at either end. The Mycenaean Arkadiko Bridge in Greece of 1300 BC is the oldest existing arch-shaped bridge. Etruscans and the ancient Greeks were aware of arches since long. But the Romans were foremost in discovering the use of arches in the construction of bridges. Arch bridges have now evolved into compression arch suspended-deck bridge enabling the use of light and strongly tensile materials in their construction. Suspension Bridge: A bridge falling under this category is suspended from cables. The suspension cables are anchored at each end of the bridge. The load that the bridge bears converts into the tension in the cables. These cables stretch beyond the pillars up to the dock-level supports further to the anchors in the ground. The Golden Gate Bridge of USA, Tsing Ma Bridge of China and the Humber Bridge of England are some of the famous suspension bridges. Cable-stayed Bridge: Structured similar to the suspension bridges, the difference lies in the amount of cable used. Less cable is required and consequently, the towers holding the cables are shorter. Two variants of cable-stayed bridges exist. In the harp design, cables are attached to multiple points of the tower thus making them parallel. In the fan variant of design, all the cables connect to the tower or pass over it. Cable Bridge boasts of being the first cable-stayed bridge of USA. Centennial Bridge is another well-known cable-stayed bridge. Cantilever bridge: Cantilevers are the structures that project along the X-axis in space. They are supported only on one end. Bridges intended to carry lesser traffic may use simple beams while those aimed at handling larger traffic make use of trusses or box girders. The 1800 feet Quebec Bridge of Canada and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that is 1400 feet long are some examples of the cantilever bridges.

Truss Bridge Types Truss is a structure composed of triangular units which consists of straight beams connected at the joints called nodes. The application of this principle and their improvisation further led to the invention and design of various types of truss bridges around the world. These are some truss bridge types with examples: Howe Truss Bridge This is named after its inventor William Howe, and was designed for the use of timber as diagonal compressions and iron as vertical tensions. Howe truss was later improvised to use steel for its construction and became a forerunner of iron bridges. These truss bridge types are popular as railroad bridges, and a well preserved example is the Comstock Bridge over the Salmon river, Colchester. Allan Truss Bridge This was designed by Percy Allan, hence it was named as Allan Truss. Hampden Bridge in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, is one of the most famous bridges and an example of Allan Truss Bridge. It is the first of this type and constructed with wood and ironbark for strength. This is the simplest among the other truss bridges, economical due to the use of less material and easier to repair. Truss Arch Bridge This type of truss bridge combines the design of truss and arch bridges, in which the trusses are fitted within the arch. A famous example of this type is the Iron Bridge across the river Severn, Shropshire, England. Bollman Truss Bridge Named after its inventor Wendell Bollman, this type of truss bridge is built only using metals, mostly wrought iron and cast iron. Most of the railroad bridges around the world are built by adopting this design due to the ease of assembly and its durability. Though common after its invention, only one bridge of this type is available today. The oldest and most historic, the Bollman Truss Rail Road Bridge in Savage, Maryland, is an example of revolutionary truss bridge design in engineering history. Pratt Truss Bridge It is exactly the opposite of Howe truss bridge in structure. Here, the diagonals are in tension and the vertical elements are under compression, both sloping towards the center in a V-shape. Earlier Pratt truss bridges were made of timber and iron truss, but later it was made of iron only. It has many variations, due to the modifications made on this design, to make it lighter, but was originally designed by Thomas and Celeb Pratt. An example of these truss bridge types is the Schell Bridge in Northfield, Massachusetts. Bowstring Arch Truce Bridge The father of tied arch bridge is considered to be Squire Whipple. This involves complicated engineering among the various truss bridge types, where the tension of the top chord is supported by the bottom chord, rather than being supported by the ground foundation. Due to this quality, tied arch bridges are usually built in areas of unstable soil. An example of this type is the Torikai Big Bridge over the Yado river, Osaka, Japan. Cantilever Bridge Cantilever bridges are named after its use of cantilevers and involve one of the most complex designs among different truss bridges. For supporting heavy load, cantilever bridges either use steel trusses or concrete box girders. For long bridges, steel truss cantilevers are used, which gives it strength and can

be easily constructed. The Quebec Bridge in Quebec, Canada, is not only listed as one of the famous bridges of the world, but is also the longest cantilever bridge around. Bailey Bridge This type of truss bridge was originally designed by Donald Bailey for use by military engineering units. These are portable bridges and are small enough for easy transportation, handling, installation and reuse. They are modular bridges, and unlike previous portable bridges used by the military, these do not require complicated equipments while assembling, and are very cost-effective. Modern day example of a Bailey bridge is the Bnot Ya'akov Bridge built across the Jordan river in Israel.

STRUCTURAL REDUNDANCY In any structural system, loads are carried along a variety of simultaneous paths. The existence of these redundant load paths in a bridge ensures reliable structural behavior in instances of damage to some of the structural elements [7]. However, is there is no redundancy, failure of one member may cause the entire structure to collapse

In another study, fatigue concerns arose due to a considerable amount of corrosion on the floorbeams of Bridge

The truss bridge, B 1/7 found in the vicinity of St.Joseph along the Eastern Main Road was erected approximately 50 years ago, during the colonial days of Trinidad and Tobago. As a result, the materials used for construction were imported from England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and contracted to a Appleby Frodingham a steel company in England at the time. However, further information on the said topic was non-existent, despite thorough checks at the local ministry of works division, as well as on numerous internet search engines.

B 1/7 being analyzed is a pratt truss bridge, which is one of the 6 main types of truss bridges known to construction. Such a bridge is made up of vertical and diagonal members, of which the diagonal members slope toward the centre of the bridge in a downward manner. A bridge is a civil structure, which facilitates the movement of vehicles over and or across a particular such as a river or canal, and can vary in many different ways. Some bridges are made of wood or stone, whilst others are made from concrete and iron, with each material lending to different properties and limits of the bridge. A truss bridge is one of the main categories of bridges, which employs newton s laws of motion to understand that only forces of tension and compression are available in vertical, horizontal and diagonal beams, joined by rivets and bolts. Such a structure uses mainly compression and tension as the methods of transferring the stress which result from the loads of passing vehicles. The type of truss bridge analyzed in this project, is a pratt bridge, located along the Eastern Main road, providing an overpass to the St.Joseph s River. In this probe, the bridge was analyzed based on its elements, current condition and characteristics. The pratt bridge is one of the main types of truss bridges used in construction, which utilizes vertical and diagonal members, along with compression and tension, to effectively distribute applied loads.

As a result, the steel and the design of the pratt truss bridge is of british standards, utilizing I beams of various sizes for transversals and stringers, as well as the use of rivets and bolts were also noted for the secure of the structure.

The main aim of this project was to examine and analyze the truss bridge located along the eastbound lane of the eastern main road, around the St. Joseph area. A site visit was conducted, and the various properties and ware factors were noted. The truss bridge sits on two abutments, located on either side of the bridge, which allows the bridge to be an overpass to the St. Joseph s river (see figure xxx).