Municipal Bridge

a bridge within city limits; used for urban transportation and pedestrian traffic. As a rule, municipal bridges are designed for the simultaneous movement of various types of urban transportation. In cases of separate transportation routes, a municipal bridge can be specially designed for one type of transport (streetcar, motor-vehicle, or subway bridges).

The site of a municipal bridge is determined by a number of design, engineering, and transportation conditions and must, above all, agree with the city’s master plan. The crossing point and engineering studies for a municipal bridge must be based on technical and economic comparisons of various alternatives. The planning criteria take into consideration the linking of the bridge routes with the city’s street network and the possibility of creating squares on the approaches to the bridge and transportation bypasses. A great deal of attention is being focused on municipal bridges as architectural elements of a city and on the need for their harmonious integration with the quays, squares, and city buildings.

The intensity and direction of the traffic flows determine the necessary width of a bridge and the organization of traffic at its approaches. If a street leading to a bridge is situated at the same level with thoroughfares along the embankments, then the bypassing of adjacent traffic flows is organized on the bridge approaches. The crossing of embankments and bridge approaches at different levels is the most advantageous. The usual plan of a modern municipal bridge consists of the spans of the river section (the bridge proper) and over passes over the thoroughfares along the shoreline (for example, the bridges across the Moskva River). The ascent to the bridge from adjacent streets is accomplished along inclined sections of road—ramps—built in the form of trestles or embankments.

Most municipal bridges are made of reinforced concrete and steel. As a rule, municipal bridges are built as deck bridges for unobstructed visibility. Through bridges are usually suspension bridges.