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[4maskwolf]

Welcome to an exercise in utter pointlessness: an experiment to determine how a bridge is determined to be of a certain material.  Why bridges, you may ask?  Well, I chose bridges because they are a variable size construction that is considered to be of one type of material even if multiple materials go into it.

The only possible useful data I can see coming from this is for those people who want all of their bridges to be listed as being of a relatively rare resource, allowing them to maximize efficiency.

A few terms I use in these experiments:
Dominant: the material that is considered the primary material, a.k.a. the material the bridge is listed as.
(number)-type: the number of different materials in the experiment.

Experiment 1: What stone is considered dominant in a 3x3 two-type bridge?
Hypothesis: The more common bridge material will be used as the dominant one.
Test one: two andesite, one shale
Result: Rough Shale Bridge
Test two: One andesite, two shale
Result: Rough Shale Bridge
Test three: two shale, one slate
Result: Rough Shale Bridge
Test four: one shale, two slate
Result: Rough Shale Bridge
Conclusion: Looking at the raw definitions, it appears that shale is listed earlier in the raws then either of the other two, leading to the conclusion that being listed earlier in the raws is what determines the result.
To confirm this, I performed another two tests, using mudstone, which is listed one entry above shale, and of course shale.
Test five: two shale, one mudstone
Result: Rough Shale Bridge
Test six: one shale, two mudstone
Result: Rough Shale Bridge
Conclusion: The previous conclusion was wrong.  Raw placement seems not to be as large of a factor as I thought.  New hypothesis: it is related to density, as shale is the least dense of the any tested material.  It seems a stretch, but...
Test seven: one andesite (density 2430), two slate (density 2750)
Result: Rough Slate Bridge
Test eight: two andesite, one slate
Result: Rough Slate Bridge
Conclusion: ...okay not that either. Umm...

On the suggestion of other forumites, I decided to test the idea that order of item spawning mattered.  Sure enough, what order the item was created in was THE deciding factor.  The oldest item determined the identity of the bridge.

On a similar note, a bridge with even one boulder in it was considered a "Rough [material] bridge".  However, a metal/stone block hybrid bridge was simply a "[material] bridge".  There is no such thing as a "smooth [material] bridge".  Even a bridge made out of pure blocks.

[Hans Lemurson]

I recall that the color-cycling order for Gem Windows was based on the creation order of the items used in its construction.  Perhaps something as maddeningly frustrating to control or keep track of is at work here?

[GhostDwemer]

Designate several bridges for construction at the same time, putting in the exact same materials in the same order. You will most likely get different bridges. Pretty sure it is creation order at work.

[itg]

I just did some quick tests, and it seems the bridge is named after the oldest material. Also interesting is that including any boulder makes the bridge "rough." For example, a bridge made with 5 bars of iron and 1 sandstone boulder will be named a "rough iron bridge" if the iron is older than the sandstone.

[Reelya]

Nice stuff to know. One way for the OP to test the oldest-material hypothesis is to go into stocks, forbid all the shale, dig some more shale, then order a bridge to be made with multiple materials.

This would be good info to go into the wiki on bridges / construction. One way to avoid the "rough" description would be to create blocks of the filler material. I think that would also ensure that the material is classed as new.

[4maskwolf]

It would be worth noting that the OP is lazy and is DFHacking in materials.  I'll see if order of hacking in matters.

[gchristopher]

I recall that the color-cycling order for Gem Windows was based on the creation order of the items used in its construction.  Perhaps something as maddeningly frustrating to control or keep track of is at work here?

I think that was what I concluded the last time I did this experiment. Items are ordered in memory by when they were created and the first one in that ordering determines the bridge material, and more critically, color.