Cantilever method

Imagine you're playing with a toy car on the edge of your table. When you push the car forward, it starts to move but also tips over the edge because it's not supported anymore. This is similar to what happens with bridges when they need to be built over something like a river or a busy road. But instead of toy cars, we have big heavy vehicles that need to safely cross the bridge.

So engineers use something called the cantilever method to build bridges that can support the weight of all these vehicles. Think of a cantilever as a long stick that is attached to something sturdy on one end and hangs over the edge, like the diving board at the pool.

To build a cantilever bridge, engineers start by building supports on either side of the bridge where it will be built. Then they start building the bridge starting from those supports using long pieces of steel and concrete. They use the cantilever method by extending the bridge out from each side, adding steel and concrete each time until they eventually meet in the middle.

It's like building a really long LEGO tower on either side and then letting them grow towards each other until they connect in the middle. Once the two sides are connected, the bridge is complete and ready for vehicles to cross over safely.

So next time you see a big bridge, you can think about all the hard work it took for the engineers to use the cantilever method to build it and keep us all safe.