This book is designed to be a practical, “easy to read” resource to assist bridge engineers in various roles, including bridge owners, designers, constructors, and colleagues from academia. Focused on bridge construction, the book is driven by two narrow and straightforward questions: “How can I do it?” and “What is critical?”. It is likely that many readers will not read the book in one sitting, but will refer to chapters as needed based on their specific needs and/or interests.
It is known that the Romans had the practice of recording incidents and accidents on wax plates and bringing them to a central building in Rome, where these cases were discussed, and critical lessons were identified. This practice is likely one of the reasons Rome was one of the most significant “schools” of bridge engineering in history. Similarly, the purpose of this book is also to be a “wax plate” contribution to the bridge engineering community.
