how do architects calculate if a structure like a bridge is stable?
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They send the drawings over to the engineer and have them do the calculations. And then they complain when the engineer say it would be unstable and that there is no way to make it stable without adding pillars or beams which would ruin the clean open design of the structure. Sometimes they do not listen to the engineer.
The engineer will do a lot of calculations on the forces and stress involved. I am sorry this post is so short but this is literally an entire collage degree to learn the basics of structural engineering. You calculate what kind of forces the structure will potentially be exposed to such as wind forces, weight from rain and snow, movements to the foundation, people and equipment moving in the structure, and of course the weight of the structure itself. You then calculate how these forces will be distributed down the structure into the foundations. To complicate matters the structure moves and twists depending on the forces applied which changes the forces. Then you multiply all the forces by a safety factor depending on the type of structure. If any structural member have more forces going through them then they are designed for the structure will have to be redesigned.
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