engineering

List of bridge failures

List of bridge failures is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of bridge failures rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of bridge failures. Before 1800 1800–1899 1900–1949 1950–1999 2000–2020 2021–present Bridge disasters in fiction The General (1926 film): The fictional Rock River bridge, a wooden trestle bridge purpose-built for the film, is set on fire and later collapses as a train attempts to cross it.

Key takeaways

List of bridge failures belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of bridge failures to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of bridge failures from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of bridge failures.

Before 1800

1800–1899

1900–1949

1950–1999

2000–2020

2021–present

Bridge disasters in fiction The General (1926 film): The fictional Rock River bridge, a wooden trestle bridge purpose-built for the film, is set on fire and later collapses as a train attempts to cross it. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927 novel): An Inca rope bridge in Peru collapses, with the resulting deaths forming the basis for the novel's plot. The Bridge over the River Kwai (1952 novel) and its 1957 film adaptation The Bridge on the River Kwai: The building and destruction of the eponymous bridge form the basis of the plot. In the novel, the bridge is merely damaged; in the film, it is destroyed. Ring of Fire (1961 film): An unnamed bridge burns and collapses with the train on it at the film's climax. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966 film): The fictional Branston Bridge is demolished by two of the main characters. The bridge was purpose-built for the film, and needed to be rebuilt and demolished again after the first explosion was set off prematurely. No one was injured, but multiple cameras were destroyed. The Cassandra Crossing (1976 film): The eponymous Cassandra Crossing, portrayed by the Garabit Viaduct arch bridge, collapses when a train attempts to cross it. The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1983 film): The fictional Madison Bridge, portrayed by the Astoria-Megler Bridge, collapses due to a multi-car accident. Train Man (1999 novel): The destruction of multiple rail bridges over the Mississippi River forms the basis of the novel's plot. Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001 video game): The fictional Callahan Bridge is destroyed by a bomb as the game starts. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005 novel): The fictional Brockdale Bridge is destroyed by the Death Eaters. In the 2009 film, this was replaced by the real-world Millennium Bridge, London. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006 film): The Golden Gate Bridge is rerouted by mutants to create a path to Alcatraz Island. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009 film): The Golden Gate Bridge is destroyed by a giant robot; Ginormica is able to save all of the commuters present. Final Destination 5 (2011 film): The fictional North Bay Bridge collapses in the opening scene. The scene was filmed at the Lions Gate Bridge. Godzilla (2014 film): Godzilla, under attack by the United States Navy while in pursuit of 2 MUTOs, walks through the road deck of the Golden Gate Bridge. San Andreas (2015 film): Several notable structures in the western United States are demolished, including the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Hoover Dam and the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. London Has Fallen (2016 film): The Chelsea Bridge is destroyed by terrorists. Gotham (2018 TV series): Every bridge out of Gotham is destroyed in the climax of season 4. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014 video game): A rogue private military corporation severs several supporting cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, dropping a large section of the main span onto a US Navy aircraft carrier.

See also List of Washington state bridge failures Transport portal Engineering portal List of dam failures List of structural failures and collapses List of accidents and disasters by death toll List of road accidents Lists of rail accidents

References

External links Media related to Bridge collapses at Wikimedia Commons

BridgeForum collapse database

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of bridge failures

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of bridge failures claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of bridge failures before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of bridge failures ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of bridge failures

In research: List of bridge failures appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of bridge failures in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of bridge failures is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bridge disasters, Bridge maintenance, History of structural engineering, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of bridge failures outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of bridge failures in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of bridge failures means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of bridge failures out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of bridge failures in simple terms?

This is a list of bridge failures. Before 1800 1800–1899 1900–1949 1950–1999 2000–2020 2021–present Bridge disasters in fiction The General (1926 film): The fictional Rock River bridge, a wooden trestle bridge purpose-built for the film, is set on fire and later collapses as a train attempts to cro…

Why does List of bridge failures matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of bridge failures?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of bridge failures.