I finally got around to fiddling with it last night.
I started with a 500'000 bridge, and got it down quickly to 250'000. Much more tweaking to do.
If it's any help, I believe that the hollow beams are meant to be used where the load forces don't vary by much, and the solid beams are meant for wide changes in loads.
The cheapest startup cost I found is the one that's 4 meters below the maximum. No center pier, simple buttresses (not arches).
The carbon steel seems to be cheapest, but I'm still looking into that.
I see that it's possible to use very long beams (as long as the bridge itself), but I'm not sure that it's actually recorded that way.
The program will not let you build an incomplete bridge: all dotted lines must have a beam.
Given the cost of joints and beams, i don't think it'd be worthwile (or even possible) to add anything outside of a standard structure.
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