A trestle bridge is composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced trestle frames. Each supporting frame is a
bent. A trestle differs from a
viaduct in that viaducts have towers that support much longer spans and typically have a higher elevation. Timber and iron trestles (i.e. bridges) were extensively used in the 19th century, particularly for railroads. In the 21st century, steel and sometimes concrete trestles are occasionally used to bridge particularly deep valleys, while timber trestles remain common in certain areas. Timber trestles remain common in some applications, most notably for bridge approaches crossing
floodways, where earth fill would dangerously obstruct floodwater. Many timber trestles were built in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the expectation that they would be temporary. Timber trestles were used to get the railroad to its destination. Once the railroad was running, it was used to transport the material to replace trestles with more permanent works, transporting and dumping fill around some trestles and transporting stone or steel to replace others with more permanent bridges. == See also ==