Question 384605
A 75-ft diagonal brace on a bridge connects a support of the center of the bridge to a side support on the bridge.
Draw this right triangle with hypotenuse = 75 ft 
=====
The horizontal distance that it spans is 15 ft longer that the height that it reaches on the side of the bridge.
Let the height be of the triangle be x ft.
Then the horizontal distance is (x+15) ft
--------
Find the horizontal and vertical distances spanned by this brace. 
---
Use Pythgoras to find the missing sides of your triangle:
75^2 = x^2 + (x+15)^2
x^2 + x^2+30x+225 = 75^2
2x^2 + 30x - 5400 = 0
x^2 + 15x -2700 = 0
---
(x-45)(x+60) = 0
---
Positive solution:
x = 45 ft (vertical distance of the brace)
----
x+15 = 60 ft (horizontal distance of the brace)
====================================================
Cheers,
Stan H.
==========