the art of Spanish Bridge Design

The CEE463 students and instructors embarked on a one-week trip to Central and Southwestern Spain in October 2014. The trip focused mainly on modern bridges (completed during the 1990s and later) using different construction materials and structural systems, but it also included visits to a few outstanding roofs and older bridges. The trip is a key component of the CEE463 course as it enables the students to feel, talk about and learn from the structures as well as, in some cases, to talk to the engineers and owners involved with their project. This process leads to a full multi-dimensional experience of the structure, a deep experience that cannot be reached by means of exclusively lectures, readings and photographs. The professors involved in the course also expect that, as a result, the students will be able to assess the success or failure of the structure and to understand the structure’s relationship to the community.