Bridge v viaduct.

Question

Is there a definitive difference between viaduct and bridge ?

As I understand it an aquaduct carries water (usually a canal) over a gap but I have no idea of the difference (if there is one) between a viaduct and a bridge.

yours S
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Is there a definitive difference between viaduct and bridge ? As I understand it an aquaduct carries water (usually a canal) over a gap but I have no idea of the difference (if there is one) between a viaduct and a bridge.[/nq]
Most viadaducts are indeed bridges, perhaps
all viaducts are bridges, but many bridges are
not viaducts. Bridges that are not viaducts
include drawbridges (because viaducts are
fixed) and bridges too small to carry a road
or rail vehicle.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Is there a definitive difference between viaduct and bridge ? As I understand it an aquaduct carries water (usually a canal) over a gap but I have no idea of the difference (if there is one) between a viaduct and a bridge.[/nq]
From
http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/viaduct?view=uk
viaduct
? noun a long bridge-like structure carrying a road or railway across a valley or other low ground.
? ORIGIN from Latin via ?way?, on the pattern of aqueduct.
A viaduct is distinguished from other types of bridge by its length and the fact that is has many spans. It seems to be a general rule that a viaduct has a flat surface - i.e. it is not a humped bridge.

Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Is there a definitive difference between viaduct and bridge ? As I understand it an aquaduct carries water (usually a canal) over a gap but I have no idea of the difference (if there is one) between a viaduct and a bridge.[/nq]
In essence, a viaduct spans a space whilst a bridge crosses an obstacle, such as a road or a river.
Some viaducts also function as bridges.
Matti

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Is there a definitive difference between viaduct and bridge ? ... (if there is one) between a viaduct and a bridge.[/nq]
[nq:1]From http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/viaduct?view=uk viaduct . noun a long bridge-like structure carrying a road or railway across a valley or ... to be a general rule that a viaduct has a flat surface - i.e. it is not a humped bridge.[/nq]
My idea of what constitutes a viaduct has always been based upon the Staley Viaduct, in Decatur, Illinois, which is the big city near where I grew up. It (the viaduct I knew and the newer construction which has since replaced it) is very much a humped bridge, taking traffic over an industrial area containing industrial buildings, railroad tracks, and (if I remember correctly) roads. A.E. Staley is a processor of soybeans, among other things, so that part of town smells or at least smelled at the time like cooking soybeans, not a good smell unless you look at it, as some people in Decatur do, as "the smell of money."
I see from googling that there is also a Van street viaduct in Decatur. I wonder if that, also, is a humped bridge.
I see that I previously posted about the Staley Viaduct, mentioning that The Century Dictionary shows one which does not rise from ground level. In that same thread, someone had quoted the California Department of Transportation as having on its Web page the definition "Viaduct carries a highway over a number of local roads."

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]From http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/viaduct?view=uk viaduct . noun a long bridge-like ... flat surface - i.e. it is not a humped bridge.[/nq]
[nq:1]My idea of what constitutes a viaduct has always been based upon the Staley Viaduct, in Decatur, Illinois, which is ... Transportation as having on its Web page the definition "Viaduct carries a highway over a number of local roads."[/nq]
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]From http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/viaduct?view=uk viaduct . noun a long bridge-like ... flat surface - i.e. it is not a humped bridge.[/nq]
[nq:1]My idea of what constitutes a viaduct has always been based upon the Staley Viaduct, in Decatur, Illinois, which is ... Transportation as having on its Web page the definition "Viaduct carries a highway over a number of local roads."[/nq]
My comment that viaducts are not humped appears to have been incorrect.

Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u)

Bridge v viaduct.

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