Modern Suspension Bridges

Abstract: Suspension bridges with their tall towers, long spans

and gracefully curving cables are beautiful examples of the work
of civil engineers. How do the towers and cables carry the load of
the bridge? Can a suspension bridge carry the greater load than
a simple beam bridge? This simple project shows you to how to
find it and how this will be helpful in real life?. What is the
development of the suspension bridge in this project?.

and hundreds of years. One of the oldest suspension bridges still in

use today was built in China about 300 A.D. People still walk across
the Anlan Bridge which was built more than 1,700 years later. Its
cables were originally made of twisted bamboo grass. These were not
replaced with steel cables until 1975.
OK, let's put a cross piece across two tall towers and suspend the
bridge from that:

Key Words: Introduction, Mechanism& Working Principle, Parts of

Suspension Bridge, How the Suspension Bridge Construction
Occurs, Materials Used in Bridge Construction, Advantages &
Disadvantages.
Introduction:
Engineers solve problems. One of the earliest problems humans
faced as they began to travel was how to cross a body of water, like a
river.
Suppose lets have a question,
Q: How do you think our oldest ancestors might have solved this
problem?

Fig1: Suspending a bridge from a Crosspiece

This looks much better, except the crosspiece is essentially a beam
bridge by itself and will sag enormously. Well, as long as we know
the thing doing the suspending will sag anyway, why not make it
cheaper and lighter by making it into a sagging cable and suspending
the bridge from that?

A: Generally their suggestions are such as swimming, in a boat, a

tree log.
If the river were deep or full of rocks and rapids, it would be
too dangerous to swim or walk across. If the river was very wide, a
fallen tree might not reach across. If they needed to cross the river
many times, they would want something that could be used over and
over by many peopleand that could hold heavy loads in carts or
wagons. They would need to build a bridge.
One of the things engineersspecifically structural engineers
are most noted for is designing and building bridges. Bridges
influence the development of cities, environments, and culture.
They come in all shapes and sizes. One of the sturdiest, longest,
and most elegant of these is the suspension bridge. Today we are
going to learn about suspension bridges: what they look like and how
they work. Although suspension bridges look as if they were
invented with today's technology, they have been used for hundreds

Fig2: Suspending a Bridge with Large Cables

This approach is called a suspension bridge. But, if it were to be built
exactly like drawn above, the two towers would try to fold in on each
other:

A suspension bridge consists of cables anchored to the

earth at their ends and supported by towers at intermediate points.
From these cables a floor or 'deck' is suspended. A suspension bridge
creates its load-carrying capability through a balance of opposites:
with the cables always in tension and the towers in compression. A
suspension bridge suspends the roadway from its huge main
cables, which extend from one end of the bridge to the other.
Fig3: A Small Problem
So, suspension bridges also have an extra set of cables on the outside
to help keep the towers from collapsing inwards as shown here:

Fig4: A Better Idea

One of the tricks to building suspension bridges is how large you can
make the distance between the two towers. Because of advances in
engineering, bridge designers have been able to make that distance
larger and larger. The following graph shows how that distance has
increased. It came from a great article in the December 1997
Scientific American called Building the Biggest.

Known Suspension Bridge: GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The towers enable the main cables to be draped over long

distances. The cables, which are embedded in either solid rock or
massive concrete blocks, carry most of the weight of the bridge.
Inside the anchorages, the cables are spread over a large area to
evenly distribute the load and to prevent the cables from breaking
free. A modern suspension bridge can be easily identified by its
elongated "M" shape.
The Cables that go from the top of the towers down the
ground are the backstays. The backstays are connected to the huge
rock or concrete piers buried in the ground. The anchorages are also
under tension, but since they, like the towers, are held firmly to the
earth, the tension they experience is dissipated. Almost all suspension
bridges have, in addition to the cables, a supporting truss system
beneath the bridge deck (a deck truss). This helps to stiffen the deck
and reduce the tendency of the roadway to sway and ripple.
The backstays keep the towers from bending in. In
addition to long span, the bridge was designed to resist huge
earthquakes (8.5) and hurricane force winds (220MPH). Because
suspension bridges are light, they can sometimes be damaged by
winds that cause them to sway or gallop. Newer suspension bridges
use steel plates or super strong steel cables. Cables work by putting
the material into tension.
Stone and concrete do not work in well in tension; they are
too brittle and usually too heavy. A material in tension when its
particles are being pulled apart. A suspension bridge has a curved
tension member. Suspension bridges use a combination of tension
and compression. The cables can only carry tension loads. By
stretching across the towers, they pull down and create a compression
in towers.

Suspension bridges come in two different designs:

1. The modern suspension bridge and
2. Cable-stayed Bridge.
A modern suspension bridge can be easily identified by its
elongated "M" shape.
The cable-stayed bridge has more of an "A" shape. Instead of
requiring two towers and four anchorages, the cables on a cablestayed bridge are run from the roadway up to a single tower where
they are secured.

Fig5: Golden Gate Bridge

MECHANISM, WORKING PRINCIPLE OF THE PROJECT:

Fig7: Additional Improvements to the Bridge

The above figure (Fig 7 )shows the additional improvements to the
Suspension Bridge.
How the Construction Occurs:
1.
Figure6: SUSPENSION BRIDGE

Where the towers are founded on underwater piers,

caissons are sunk and any soft bottom is excavated for a
foundation. If the bedrock is too deep to be exposed by
excavation or the sinking of a caisson, pilings are driven to
the bedrock or into overlying hard soil, or a large concrete
pad to distribute the weight over less resistant soil may be
constructed, first preparing the surface with a bed of
compacted gravel. (Such a pad footing can also
accommodate the movements of an active fault, and this
has been implemented on the foundations of the cablestayed Rio-Antirio bridge. The piers are then extended
above water level, where they are capped with pedestal
bases for the towers.

2. Where the towers are founded on dry land, deep foundation

excavation or pilings are used.
PARTS OF SUSPENSION BRIDGE:

3. From the tower foundation, towers of single or multiple

columns are erected using high-strength reinforced concrete,

stonework, or steel. Concrete is used most frequently in modern

suspension bridge construction due to the high cost of steel.
4. Large devices called saddles, which will carry the main
suspension cables, are positioned atop the towers. Typically of cast
steel, they can also be manufactured using riveted forms, and are
equipped with rollers to allow the main cables to shift under
construction and normal loads.
5. Anchorages are constructed, usually in tandem with the towers,
to resist the tension of the cables and form as the main anchor system
for the entire structure. These are usually anchored in good quality
rock, but may consist of massive reinforced concrete deadweights
within an excavation. The anchorage structure will have multiple
protruding open eyebolts enclosed within a secure space.
6. Temporary suspended walkways, called catwalks, are then
erected using a set of guide wires hoisted into place via winches
positioned atop the towers. These catwalks follow the curve set by
bridge designers for the main cables, in a path mathematically
described as a catenary arc. Typical catwalks are usually between
eight and ten feet wide, and are constructed using wire grate and
wood slats.
7. Gantries are placed upon the catwalks, which will support the
main cable spinning reels. Then, cables attached to winches are
installed, and in turn, the main cable spinning devices are installed.
8. High strength wire (typically 4 or 6 gauge galvanized steel
wire), is pulled in a loop by pulleys on the traveler, with one end
affixed at an anchorage. When the traveler reaches the opposite
anchorage the loop is placed over an open anchor eyebar. Along the
catwalk, workers also pull the cable wires to their desired tension.
This continues until a bundle, called a "cable strand" is completed,
and temporarily bundled using stainless steel wire. This process is
repeated until the final cable strand is completed. Workers then
remove the individual wraps on the cable strands (during the
spinning process, the shape of the main cable closely resembles a
hexagon), and then the entire cable is then compressed by a traveling
hydraulic press into a closely packed cylinder and tightly wrapped
with additional wire to form the final circular cross section. The wire
used in suspension bridge construction is a galvanized steel wire that
has been coated with corrosion inhibitors.
9. At specific points along the main cable (each being the exact
distance horizontally in relation to the next) devices called "cable
bands" are installed to carry steel wire ropes called Suspender cables.
Each suspender cable is engineered and cut to precise lengths, and
are looped over the cable bands. In some bridges, where the towers
are close to or on the shore, the suspender cables may be applied only
to the central span. Early suspender cables were fitted with zinc
jewels and a set of steel washers, which formed the support for the
deck. Modern suspender cables carry a shackle-type fitting.
10. Special lifting hoists attached to the suspenders or from the
main cables are used to lift prefabricated sections of bridge deck to
the proper level, provided that the local conditions allow the sections
to be carried below the bridge by barge or other means. Otherwise, a
traveling cantilever derrick may be used to extend the deck one
section at a time starting from the towers and working outward. If the
addition of the deck structure extends from the towers the finished
portions of the deck will pitch upward rather sharply, as there is no
downward force in the center of the span. Upon completion of the
deck the added load will pull the main cables into an arc
mathematically described as a parabola, while the arc of the deck will
be as the designer intended usually a gentle upward arc for added

clearance if over a shipping channel, or flat in other cases such as a

span over a canyon. Arched suspension spans also give the structure
more rigidity and strength.
11. With completion of the primary structure various details
such as lighting, handrails, finish painting and paving are installed or
completed.
INPUT MATERIALS:
[1] Steel Cables
[2] Girders
[3] Hangers
[4] Water
[5] Aggregates
[6] Concrete
[7] Sulphate Resisting Cement
[8] Steel Plates
[9] Mixers
[10] Tremie Pipe
[11] Polyethylene Sheet
OUTPUT: By using the above materials we can plan, design and
construct the suspension bridges.
USES:
1) The suspension bridge is mainly used for when want to built a
bridge over a long span (i.e for long distances), we cant built
actual bridges in a river if the river was so long if that it is
uneconomical. For decreasing the amount of construction these
modern suspension bridges are developed.
2) Transfer huge amount of load over long span.
3) Communication, trading between the cities also increases.
4) Better to withstand earthquake movements than heavier and
more rigid bridges.
DISADVANTAGES:

I. Considerable stiffness or aerodynamic profiling may be required

to prevent the bridge deck vibrating under winds.

II. High amount of Cost for Construction

CONCLUSION:
Finally this project shows you how the suspension bridges are, how
they work, and the additional improvements that we added for the
suspension bridge to withstand the loads, and the increment of
workability and durability of the suspension bridge.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_bridge
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bridge/build.html
http://static.howstuffworks.com/pdf/ups-suspension-bridge.pdf
Conclusion: This project shows you how the Modern Suspension
Bridges are,how it works, why it is needed for transportation and
the additional improvements to the bridge.