BRACE n.
mit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting t…
BRIDGE n.
pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means. -- Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers. -- Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders. -- Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge. See under Pontoon. -- Skew bridge, a bridge built…
CANTALEVER n.
A projecting beam, truss, or bridge unsupported at the outer end; one which overhangs. Cantalever bridge, a bridge in which the principle of the cantalever is applied. It is usually a trussed bridge, composed of two portions reaching out from opposite banks, and supported near the middle of their own length on piers wh…
CHORD n.
The upper or lower part of a truss, usually horizontal, resisting compression or tension. Waddell. Accidental, Common, and Vocal chords. See under Accidental, Common, and Vocal. -- Chord of an arch. See Illust. of Arch. -- Chord of curvature, a chord drawn from any point of a curve, in the circle of curvature for tha…
HIP n.
In a bridge truss, the place where an inclined end post meets the top chord. Waddell. Hip bone (Anat.), the innominate bone; -- called also haunch bone and huckle bone. -- Hip girdle (Anat.), the pelvic girdle. -- Hip joint (Anat.), the articulation between the thigh bone and hip bone. -- Hip knob (Arch.), a finial,…