such as slab-and-girder bridges, both single span and multispan, simply supported or continuous; frame bridges; arch bridges; bridges with suspension systems; bearings and joints; foundations; maintenance and aesthetics. The main focus is on the structural concept of bridges, highlighting factors which affect their structural design and demonstrating how project requirements may guide the choice of a design solution.

For each type of bridge the emphasis is on the configuration of the bridge. Structural analysis is discussed briefly and particularities are explained, but a rigorous treatment of calculation methods has been omitted. Reference is given instead to general texts on structural analysis and to the more specialized literature.

Coverage is primarily of the current state of bridge engineering in the developed world, but practice and techniques used in other parts of the world are not ignored. This is also highly relevant to bridges built in the developed world in the past, which may still need repair in the future.

Paul Mondorf has been active in bridge design and construction during a lifelong career spent in various European countries and in the Americas. He has taught courses on bridge engineering at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen and at the University of California San Diego, and is currently at the University of Chile in Santiago.