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Robert Derbyshire

Roller supports can be compared to roller skates; staying in place with a solely vertical load, but whenever lateral force is given, rolling in response. They are necessary at the end of long bridges to compensate for the expansion and contraction of the bridge from temperature changes. A pinned connection is more like a knee; allowing rotation in one direction, but no moment. It resists both vertical and lateral forces.

20:19, 17 October 2011