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The Construction of a Suspension Bridge

There are six main processes when it comes to the construction of a suspension bridge.

Firstly the anchors that are going to support the cables

need to be set into the ground. They are normally made

from concrete and need to be set into solid ground as

these support a big proportion of the deck. The next

part of the process is to construct the foundations for

the towers. If the towers are to be constructed in water

then the water needs to be dammed and pumped out. This is not the only problem though

as wherever the towers are going to be the foundations need to be on solid ground as it is

the towers that are under compression and transfer the applied loads into the ground as the

diagram shows above.

The third stage to the construction process is to erect the towers. This is a key stage as

suspension bridges are renowned for spanning long distances and the higher the towers are

the longer the bridge will be able to span.

Next the main cable needs to be stretched between the two anchor points and over the two

towers. At the top of the two towers sit two saddles. These are joints that the cable can run

freely over and they allow for any slight movement in the bridge. If this movement was not

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allowed for then when the bridge moved the load would no longer run directly down the

towers and there would be a risk of the bridge collapsing. The main two cables are made

from twisted steel cable and the size of them will depend upon factors such as the load the

bridge needs to take and the span of the bridge.

Following this trusses are attached to the main cable. These are put in place to stiffen the

cable and make sure that in the wind the cable doesn’t move. Smaller cables are then

attached which are known as suspenders. These are joined to the trusses and are the cables

that run from the main cable down to support the deck.

The final part is the process of fixing the deck to the vertical cables and then applying the

finish to the deck. When this has been completed the load path should be as follows. The

load on the deck firstly travels into the deck. From the deck the load will travel through the

suspenders and into the main cable. The load in the cable will then travel to the top of each

of the two towers, through the saddle and down the towers into the ground.

So as you can see the construction process of a suspension bridge is the reverse of the load

path. In principal the stages are straight forward but later you will see some risk and

construction problems involved in the construction of suspension bridges.

Construction Problems

There are two different types of construction problem. The first type would be something

such as a bridge being unsuccessful and collapsing after it has been built. Secondly you have

the problems that arise from the construction process and the effect it has on people and

the environment.

A prime example of a construction problem would be the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This was

a bridge that when completed in 1940 was the third longest suspension bridge in the world.

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Just four months after opening this bridge collapsed in the wind. It was designed to

withstand winds of 120 mph but when it

collapsed there was a wind of just 42

mph. After the bridge was opened it was

soon noticed that the bridge moved not

only from side to side but up and down

which led to additional cables and

hydraulic buffers being fitted to try and

stabilize the bridge. Unfortunately these

attempts failed and four months after opening the bridge collapsed as pictured. Some

people have put the collapse down to resonance but one thing that was learnt from the

collapse is that now all new bridges have scale models tested in wind tunnels to make sure

they can withstand winds.

The second type of construction problems are those that arise when the work is being

carried out, these can be anything from disrupting the local residents and the environment

or not having a power source in place to operate machinery. Certain projects that are

carried out could be in rural areas. This means that there may not be any utilities in place

such as electricity to run offices and lighting and any other basic facilities that will be

required for the job and therefore it may mean generators would need to be put into place

first.

Secondly you may find that people and the environment are affected. The environmental

aspects are mentioned later in this report. However an example of how people could be

affected is by the way in which materials are transported to the site. Narrow streets for

example would cause different challenges in transportation compared to a spacious area

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with good infrastructure. When constructing a suspension bridge over a river an alternative

method to transporting materials over land would be to use the river to transport larger

components to the site.

So as you can see some construction problems that occur can be thought through before

they take place such as the transportation of materials and the use of utilities on site.

However some problems are encountered along the way with a far greater impact than

anyone would have expected, for example the wind affecting the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Even after strengthening the bridge the problem was not resolved which ultimately lead to

its collapse.

Safety Aspects

Bridge safety is a very important factor in bridge design, construction, maintenance and

repair. In America one of the organisations that carry out the above jobs is the Washington

State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). They inspect their bridges fully and carry out

any repairs that may be required. Some examples of the types of work that they carry out

include repainting steel work that is exposed to the elements as well as repairing joints such

as saddles mentioned earlier in the report.

In Minneapolis, August 2007, the Interstate 35W Bridge collapsed into the Mississippi river.

Although this wasn’t a suspension bridge it brought about questions on the federal

government’s ability to regulate health and safety of their bridges. Federal funding to assist

with continuing inspections, repairing and replacing of bridges is provided under a scheme

in America called the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program (HBRRP).

State and local governments assess different bridges and then if they feel that work is

needed on those bridges they apply for funds to carry the work out. It was in 1978 that the

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government felt that many bridges were becoming unsafe and that more money was

needed to be put towards making bridges safer for the use of the public. What the above

example shows you is that there are schemes in place to maintain the safety of older

bridges as well as regularly assessing newer bridges to keep the public safe and to prevent

and catastrophic bridge failure.

Environmental Aspects

There are many environmental aspects to consider when designing bridges. For example

most modern bridges are made from steel and concrete which are not very sustainable

materials, although a great deal of thought does go into how these materials can be re-

used. Secondly, the transportation of these materials can not only be costly but vehicles

tend to contribute a large amount of pollution such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

In addition waste materials and packaging can be left behind on site or buried somewhere

causing land contamination. Sometimes this can be done accidentally for example in the

case of a bridge over a waterway harmful substances or materials could be dropped into the

water causing an impact on the ecosystems. Equipment used on site is also an issue, not

only due to the carbon foot print but noise pollution.

Another factor to consider is wildlife. Birds often use bridges for nesting and as a

consequence during maintenance phase’s interruption can be caused. This is because if

birds are nesting, carrying out work on bridges can cause harm to the offspring. As a result

work can be delayed until professional bodies have been consulted and the appropriate

action taken. This in turn could cause bridges to be shut if they are deemed unsafe to use

until the maintenance has been completed. One example of a species commonly found on

bridges are bats.

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Value Considerations

With suspension bridges it is possible to achieve much longer spans using less construction

materials than most other bridge designs. As fewer materials are used suspension bridges

are quite often more cost effective than many other bridge types. It is also possible that due

to a suspension bridge’s design, they may be a better approach than other bridge types

when considering earthquakes. This is because other bridge types tend to be heavier and

more rigid. However due to the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940 suspension

bridges have since been re-designed more aerodynamically and made more rigid to prevent

the deck from moving under high winds. Suspension bridges also tend not to hold any other

forms of traffic such as trains because they are not designed to carry high concentrated

loads.

Risk Conditions

There are many different sorts of risks when constructing a bridge. The first of which is to

the workers constructing the bridge and the general public. The second type of risk is the

type involved in the actual construction such as risk of using new or different materials and

different construction techniques.

Some examples of methods used to try and keep the public and workers safe are listed

below:

• Training

• Hazard and risk assessments

• Audits

• Incident investigations

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• Project reviews

• Policy and procedure plans

Secondly an example of a change in materials would be the cables used in suspension

bridges. They used to be made using chain or linked bars but since there is a much greater

risk of failure with these methods, a more modern approach means that cables are made

from multiple strands of wire. This is because if a few strands fail the bridge will still be

completely safe due to other strands still connected and wound together. Whereas, one

single damaged link could result in a sudden failure of the bridge.

Furthermore suspension bridges also have open truss structures to support the deck; this

has changed from plate girders in the past that were used on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

and could have contributed to its collapse.

References

• http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/

• http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_bridge

• http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Suspension-Bridge.html

• http://www.howstuffworks.com/

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