Suspension Bridge

A SEMINAR
ON
SUSPENSION BRIDGE AND DESIGN
BY
AKASH SINGH SAHOTA
BTECH CIVIL
2 YEAR
 A bridge is a structure built to span a valley, road,
body of water, or other physical obstacle, for the
purpose of providing passage over the obstacle.
 Designs of bridges vary depending on the
function of the bridge and the nature of the
terrain where the bridge is constructed.
 There are six main types of bridges:-
 Arch Bridge
 Beam Bridge
 Cable-stayed Bridge
 Cantilever Bridge
 Truss Bridge
 Suspension Bridge
Arch Bridge
 Arch bridges are arch-shaped and have abutments at each
end.
 An arch bridge doesn't need additional supports or cables. In
fact it’s the shape of the structure that gives it its strength.
 Arch bridges are designed to be constantly under
compression.
 The weight of the bridge is thrust into the abutments at either
side.
 Usually they are made for short span range but often set end-
to-end to form a large total length.
Beam Bridge
 Beam bridges are the simplest kind of bridge today.
 Bridges consist of one horizontal beam with 2 supports usually on either
ends.
 It is frequently used in pedestrian bridges and for highway overpasses &
flyovers.
 They are constructed for short span requirements.
 The weight of the bridge and any traffic on it is directly supported by the
piers.
 The top side of the deck is under compression while the bottom side of
the deck is under tension.
 To increase the bridge’s strength designers introduce truss to the bridge’s
beam.
Cable-stayed Bridge
 A bridge that consists of one or more pylons with cables.
 There are two major classes of cable-stayed bridges such as a harp design
& a fan design.
fan design harp design
 The cable-stay design is best suited for a medium span range.

 The towers form the primary load-bearing structure.
 It has greater stiffness.
 The cables act as both temporary & permanent supports to the bridge-
deck.
 The tower in a cable-stayed bridge is responsible for absorbing and
dealing with the compression forces while the cables are under tension.
Cantilever Bridge
 A bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project
horizontally into space, supported on only one end.
 For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams;
however, large cantilever bridges are designed using trusses.
 These are constructed for short to medium span ranges.
 Cantilevers support loads by tension of the upper members &
compression of the lower ones.
Truss Bridge
 A bridge composed of straight connected elements which
may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes
both in response to dynamic loads.
 A truss bridge is economical to construct owing to its efficient
use of materials.
 These are usually constructed for short to medium span
range.
 In India truss bridges are generally constructed for rail traffic.
 Vertical members are in tension, lower horizontal members in
tension, shear, and bending, outer diagonal and top members
are in compression, while the inner diagonals are in tension.
 Nowadays these are the pioneers in bridge technology.
 Of all the bridge types in use today, the suspension bridge
allows for the longest span ranging from 2,000 to 7,000 feet.
 This type of bridge has cables suspended between towers &
the cables support vertical suspender cables that carry the
weight of the deck below. This arrangement allows the deck
to be level or to arc upward for additional clearance.
 The suspension cables are anchored at each end of the
bridge.
 They are ideal for covering busy waterways.
 Side span: segment between two pylons at the ends of a bridge.
 Centre span: segment between two pylons at the centre of a bridge.
 Side pylon: tower-like vertical construction situated at the side. usually
supporting the cables of a suspension bridge.
 Foundation of a pylon: very durable lower part of a tower.
 Suspender: support cable.
 Suspension cable: set of braided wire that supports a bridge.
 Pylon: tower-like vertical support that usually supports the cables of a
suspension bridge or a cable-stayed bridge.
 Stiffening girder: tightener beam.
 The main forces in a suspension bridge are tension in the main cables and
compression in the pillars. Since almost all the force on the pillars is
vertically downwards and they are also stabilized by the main cables,
they can be made quite slender.
 In a suspended deck bridge, cables suspended via towers hold up the
road deck. The weight is transferred by the cables to the towers, which in
turn transfer the weight to the ground.
 Most of the weight or load of the bridge is transferred by the cables to
the anchorage systems. These are imbedded in either solid rock or huge
concrete blocks. Inside the anchorages, the cables are spread over a large
area to evenly distribute the load and to prevent the cables from
breaking free.
With Anchorages
Without Anchorages
Cables
•Cables are fundamental elements

•Cables are made up of high tensile strength steel wires
•Cables are usually of 3 to 7mm in diameter
The general characteristics of the steel used
• Yield strength: 1180 MPA
•Tensile strength: 1570 MPA
•Strain at breaking: 4%
•Modulus of Elasticity: 205 GPA
Different kinds of cables
•Parallel-bar cables
•Parallel-wire cables
•Locked-coil strand cables
•Stranded cables
The road deck of a suspension bridge is very important.
Most deck designs are made from open trusses that allow
wind to pass through. It is important to build the deck
aerodynamically or else it will twist and could snap. One
of the more famous occasions of this happening was the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The truss work of the deck was
too flexible and it snapped in strong winds.
 Some bridges have in the past suffered from structural failure
due to combination of poor design and severe weather
conditions.
 Collapse of the bridge also depends upon a phenomenon
called resonance. It is the phenomenon when a body vibrates
at its natural frequency & it shatters.
 To avoid these types of failures today all new bridges
prototypes have to be tested in a wind tunnel before being
constructed.
 The main suspension cable in older bridges was often made from chain or
linked bars, but modern bridge cables are made from multiple strands of
wire. This contributes greater redundancy; a few flawed strands in the
hundreds used pose very little threat, whereas a single bad link or eyebar
can cause failure of the entire bridge.
 Another reason is that as spans increased, engineers were unable to lift
larger chains into position, whereas wire strand cables can be largely
prepared in mid-air from a temporary walkway.
 The cables are made of thousands of individual steel wires bound tightly
together. Steel, which is very strong under tension, is an ideal material for
cables; a single steel wire, only 0.1 inch thick, can support over half a ton
without breaking.
 Material Used
Corrosion
•Deterioration of material
•Protection using coating
•Protection using galvanizing
This is the main cable before it’s

wrapped in galvanized steel wire.
 Longer main spans are achievable than with any other
type of bridge.
 May be better able to withstand earthquake
movements than can heavier and more rigid bridges.
 The center span may be made very long in proportion
to the amount of materials required, allowing the
bridge to economically span a very wide canyon or
waterway.
 It can be built high over water to allow the passage of
very tall ships.
 Considerable stiffness or aerodynamic profiling may be
required to prevent the bridge deck vibrating under
high winds.
 The relatively low deck stiffness compared to other
types of bridges makes it more difficult to carry heavy
rail traffic where high concentrated live loads occur.
 Under severe wind loading, the towers exert a large
torque force in the ground, and thus require very
expensive foundation work when building on soft
ground.
Cable-stayed bridge Beam bridge
tension
compression
Cantilever bridge
SOME FAMOUS SUSPENSION BRIDGES
Si Du River Bridge (People's

Republic of China)
Tacoma Narrows Bridges
(Washington State)
George Washington Bridge
(New York- New Jersey) Yi Sun-sin bridge (South Korea)
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
 Hyogo, Japan
 6,529 ft
 Longest suspension
bridge today
 These are the pinnacles in modern days bridge technology.
 Longer spans of up to 2000 ft-7000 ft is possible.
 They are ideal for covering busy waterways such as Gulf, Strait, Lake, etc.
 These bridges are mainly meant for light & heavy roadways rather than
railways.
 The main forces in a suspension bridge are tension in the main cables and
compression in the pillars.
Bibliography
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_bridge
 http://www.visitingdc.com/images/golden-gate-
bridge-picture.jpg
 http://www.sundialframingandphotography.com/im
ages/smithsonian.jpg
 http://books.google.com/books?id=SU4FllCNFTEC&
printsec=frontcover&dq=corrosion+solutions&client
=firefox-a
THANK YOU

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A SEMINAR

 The cable-stay design is best suited for a medium span range.

•Cables are fundamental elements

This is the main cable before it’s

Si Du River Bridge (People's

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