Abutment in the context of "Beam bridge"

The world's longest suspension bridges are listed according to the length of their main span (i.e., the length of suspended roadway between the bridge's towers). The length of the main span is the most common method of comparing the sizes of suspension bridges, often correlating with the height of the towers and the engineering complexity involved in designing and constructing the bridge. If one bridge has a longer span than another, it does not necessarily mean that the bridge is longer from shore to shore (or from abutment to abutment).

Suspension bridges have the longest spans of any type of bridge. Cable-stayed bridges, the next longest design, are practical for spans up to just over one kilometre (the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world has a 1,104 m span). Therefore, as of October 2025, the 28 longest bridges on this list are the 28 longest spans of all types of vehicular bridges (other than floating pontoon bridges).

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side, and partially into a vertical load on the arch supports. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.

An embankment is a raised wall, bank or mound made of earth or stones, that are used to hold back water or carry a roadway. A road, railway line, or canal is normally raised onto an embankment made of compacted soil (typically clay or rock-based) to avoid a change in level required by the terrain, the alternatives being either to have an unacceptable change in level or detour to follow a contour. A cutting is used for the same purpose where the land is originally higher than required.

Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other hard, heavy, unconsolidated material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. Riprap is used to armor shorelines, streambeds, bridge abutments, foundational infrastructure supports and other shoreline structures against erosion. Common rock types used include granite and modular concrete blocks. Rubble from building and paving demolition is sometimes used, as well as specifically designed structures called tetrapods or similar concrete blocks.Riprap is also used underwater to cap immersed tubes sunken on the seabed to be joined into an undersea tunnel.

In architecture, an abacus (from the Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax), 'slab'; or French abaque, tailloir; pl.: abacuses or abaci) is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell. Its chief function is to provide a large supporting surface, tending to be wider than the capital, as an abutment to receive the weight of the arch or the architrave above. The diminutive of abacus, abaculus, is used to describe small mosaic tiles, also called abaciscus or tessera, used to create ornamental floors with detailed patterns of chequers or squares in a tessellated pavement.

Bridge scour is the removal of sediment such as sand and gravel from around bridge abutments or piers. Hydrodynamic scour, caused by fast flowing water, can carve out scour holes, compromising the integrity of a structure.

In the United States, bridge scour is one of the three main causes of bridge failure (the others being collision and overloading). It has been estimated that 60% of all bridge failures result from scour and other hydraulic-related causes. It is the most common cause of highway bridge failure in the US, where 46 of 86 major bridge failures resulted from scour near piers from 1961 to 1976.