AESTHETICS FOR SHORT- AND MEDIUM-SPAN BRIDGES. BRIDGE AESTHETICS AROUND THE WORLD

Architecture is a highly controversial subject to which each critical observer brings an abundance of preconceptions that burden his objectivity. What pleases one might disturb another. Likewise, aesthetics is not an exact science for which incontrovertible rules can be laid down to ensure universal satisfaction. There are, nonetheless, broad guidelines that form the basis of a consensus of what works and what does not. This paper reviews some of these guidelines for the aesthetic design of short- and medium-span bridges. They concern continuity, proportioning, widening and rehabilitation, and substructures.