Comparison With Suspension Bridge
A multiple-tower cable-stayed bridge may appear similar to a suspension bridge, but in fact is very different in principle and in the method of construction. In the suspension bridge, a large cable hangs between two towers, and is fastened at each end to anchorages in the ground or to a massive structure. These cables form the primary load-bearing structure for the bridge deck. Before the deck is installed, the cables are under tension from only their own weight. Smaller cables or rods are then suspended from the main cable, and used to support the load of the bridge deck, which is lifted in sections and attached to the suspender cables. As this is done the tension in the cables increases, as it does with the live load of vehicles or persons crossing the bridge. The tension on the cables must be transferred to the earth by the anchorages, which are sometimes difficult to construct owing to poor soil conditions.
- Difference between types of bridges
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Suspension bridge
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Cable-stayed bridge, fan design
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Cable-stayed bridge, harp design
In the cable-stayed bridge, the towers form the primary load-bearing structure. A cantilever approach is often used for support of the bridge deck near the towers, but areas further from them are supported by cables running directly to the towers. This has the disadvantage, compared to the suspension bridge, of the cables pulling to the sides as opposed to directly up, requiring the bridge deck to be stronger to resist the resulting horizontal compression loads; but has the advantage of not requiring firm anchorages to resist a horizontal pull of the cables, as in the suspension bridge. All static horizontal forces are balanced so that the supporting tower does not tend to tilt or slide, needing only to resist such forces from the live loads.
Key advantages of the cable-stayed form are as follows:
- much greater stiffness than the suspension bridge, so that deformations of the deck under live loads are reduced
- can be constructed by cantilevering out from the tower - the cables act both as temporary and permanent supports to the bridge deck
- for a symmetrical bridge (i.e. spans on either side of the tower are the same), the horizontal forces balance and large ground anchorages are not required
Read more about this topic: Cable-stayed Bridge
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