A pipeline bridge is a bridge for running a

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

over a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

or another obstacle. Pipeline bridges for

liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

s and gases are, as a rule, only built when it is not possible to run the pipeline on a conventional bridge or under the river. However, as it is more common to run pipelines for centralized heating systems overhead, for this application even small pipeline bridges are common. Pipeline bridges may be made of

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, fiber reinforced polymer, reinforced

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

or similar materials. They may vary in size and style depending on the size of the pipeline being run. As there is normally a steady flow in pipelines, they can be designed as suspension bridges. They may also be added to an existing bridge. A pipeline bridge may be equipped with a walkway for maintenance purposes, but for safety and security reasons, the walkway is usually not open to the public. One of the world's longest pipeline bridges, built in 1970, is 1,040 meters long and crosses the Fuji River in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The highest at 393 m is Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

References

Bridges Pipeline transport {{bridge-type-stub