#2 Essay

Planning for bridge construction is required as it has a huge impact on life of people.
Economical, technical and scientific dimensions in designing of bridge must be considered. A
bridge’s lifespan extends decades into the future, requiring careful planning in every aspect of its
design and construction. In designing of bridges, there are four stages or process that must be
considered, the conceptual design, preliminary design, detailed design and construction design.
In the conceptual design, a systematic understanding of construction process, long term
maintenance issues, and environmental impacts are vital to the provision of value-added concept
design. We as future civil engineers must first visualize and imagine the bridge in order to
determine its function, performance and the constraints that we may encounter in the future or
during the construction.
The preliminary design stage is the most important phase of a bridge and other structure
design because it is the basis for the final design. During preliminary design, major emphasis is
upon civil, mechanical and architectural design. All the required site investigations, including
soil analysis, topography, etc. are made before completing this stage.
In order to start the construction of the bridge, it should undergo first to the next stage of
design process called detailed design stage. The analysis is applied to each component of the
bridge and to the whole structure. Each part should be visualized first by the designer, sketched,
analyzed, and checked for feasibility. Then it should be modified if necessary.
During the last stage of design which is the construction design, it provides a step by step
procedure of building a bridge. In this stage, milestones are identified at the end of the detailed
design stage, where formal design presentations and reviews are conducted, and client
representatives are given the opportunity to comment on the design and engineering plans prior
to start the construction.