Trestle bridge
A bridge whose deck rests on a framework of closely spaced rigid frames called trestles. Trestles carry the deck’s loads to the ground or riverbed.
Trestle: A rigid framework that supports a platform or carries loads between a structure and its foundations. Repeated trestles form the bridge’s supporting framework.
Timber framing: A construction method that uses connected wood members to form a building’s structural frame. Traditional trestles use timber frames to support bridge decks.
Railway bridge: A bridge designed to carry railway tracks and the trains that use them. Trestles have long supported railways across valleys, rivers, and marshland.
Kinzua Bridge: A former railway viaduct in Pennsylvania, originally built with wrought iron and later rebuilt in steel. Its towering structure demonstrates the height and scale achievable with trestle construction.
Arch bridge: A bridge that carries loads primarily through compression in one or more curved arches. An arch carries loads through its curved span, unlike a trestle’s repeated supporting frames.
Bridge deck: The surface of a bridge that carries traffic, pedestrians, or railway tracks. The deck distributes its loads across the trestles beneath it.
Truss: A framework of connected members arranged in triangles to resist structural loads. Trusses can form the bridge span between trestle supports.
Temporary bridge: A bridge built for short-term use, often during construction, emergencies, or military operations. Modular trestles can be assembled quickly for temporary crossings.
Lucin Cutoff: A railway line across the Great Salt Lake in Utah, opened in 1904 and later replaced by a causeway. Its long timber trestle crossed open water before a causeway replaced it.
Suspension bridge: A bridge whose deck hangs from cables supported by towers and anchored at both ends. Suspension bridges cross long gaps without the close-spaced supports typical of trestles.