Engineers, Architects and Bridge Design

The question of whether, and if so, to what extent architects should be involved in bridge design is a matter of quite divergent opinions. Some engineers maintain that, due to their education, experience and skill, they are perfectly able to perform this task alone and that there is thus no need to collaborate with architects in a field where statical and structural considerations, after all constitute the primary criteria. At the other extreme, it has become fashionable to assign the leading role in bridge design competitions to architects, arguing that it is precisely the engineer's presumed narrow preoccupation with statical and structural rationality that prevents the development of new concepts or forms. It is, however, entirely feasible that constructive cooperation between qualified engineers and architects can result in aesthetically and structurally convincing bridges for only moderate costs.