Before an engineer or bridge designer can adequately begin working on the design for a bridge, a substantial amount of information is needed. (Leonhardt, Fritz)
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(1) A plan of the site is needed in order for the engineer to see all of the
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obstacles that has to be bridged, such as rivers, streets, contour lines of valleys and the desired alignment of the new traffic route.
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(2) The requirements of the bridge itself such as the width of the bridge, including the width of the lanes, safety rails, medians and walkways.
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(3) Weather and environmental conditions such as length of flood periods, high and low tide levels, length of flood or drought periods.
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(4) The topography of the environment.
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(5) The soil and substrata conditions of the planned site based on the results from the data collected from borings and the soil mechanics data.
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(6) Local conditions like the accessibility for the transport of equipment, materials and structural elements that must be used for construction.
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(7) The environmental requirements regarding the aesthetic quality of the bridge which is about to be built.
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(8) Health and safety requirements such as noise, vibrations and it compatibility with adjacent sites surrounding the bridge.
Once the bridge designer has taken all of these factors into consideration, the bridge then takes on the preliminary shape or design in the designer's imagination.
