Cable structure

• Cable structure is a form of long-span structure that is subject to tension and uses suspension
cables for support.
• Highly efficient, cable structures include the suspension bridge, the cable-stayed roof etc.
• A cable is a flexible structural component that offers no resistance when compressed or bent
in a curved shape.
• Cables are often used for support and to transmit load from one member to another. When
used to support suspension bridges the cables form the main load carrying element in the
structure.

• Being inextensible the cable has constant length before and after the load is applied. As a
result, once the load is applied the geometry of cable remains fixed.
• Types of Cable Structure -
There are generally two types of cables structures.
1- SUSPENSION TYPE CABLES.
2- STAYED TYPE CABLES.
SUSPENSION TYPE CABLES.
• A suspension type cable bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (the load-bearing portion)
is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders.
• This type of bridge has
cables suspended
between towers, plus
vertical suspender
cables that carry the
weight of the deck
below, upon which
traffic crosses.
• This arrangement
allows the deck to be
level or to arc upward
for additional
clearance.
• The main type of force in a suspension bridge are tension in cables and compression in the
pillars.
 • The suspension cables must be anchored
at each end of the bridge, since any load
applied to the bridge is transformed into
a tension in these main cables.
• The main cables continue beyond the
pillars to deck-level supports, and further
continue to connections with anchors in
the ground.
• The roadway is supported by vertical
suspender cables or rods, called hangers.
• The bridge will usually have two smaller spans, running between either pair of pillars and the
highway, which may be supported by suspender cables or may use a truss bridge to make this
connection
STAYED TYPE CABLES
• A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers
(or pylons), from which cables support the
bridge deck.
• In the cable-stayed bridge, the towers are the
primary load-bearing structures which
transmit the bridge loads to the ground.
• A cantilever approach is often used to support
the bridge deck near the towers, but lengths
further from them are supported by cables
running directly to the towers.
• The cables pull 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 the
horizontal pull of the main cables of the
suspension bridge.
• By design all static horizontal forces of the cable-stayed bridge are balanced so that the
supporting towers do not tend to tilt or slide, needing only to resist horizontal forces from the
live loads.
APPLICATIONS OF CABLED STRUCTURES: -

1) SUSPENDED BRIDGES: -
• The complete suspension system of this type of bridge can be
realized using parallel strands system, that can be installed
one by one directly on site without the needing of high
capacity lifting equipment.
• In addition, being the system modular, every cable capacity
can be reached without particular limitation, and moreover
the system ensures high performances in terms of fatigue
and in terms of durability.
 The vertical hangers can be made both with parallel strands system or with bars, depending
on the desired performances, finishing grade and various design considerations
2) SUSPENDED ROOF:-
• Lightweight roofs are usually realized using cable
structures as main structural element, since they
allow an easy and quick construction sequence.
• In particular, being the main tensile element made
by a bundle of parallel strands, it is possible to
prepare cables of the required length and capacity
directly on site and without the needing of any
special equipment.
• This because the main tensile element is already a
low relaxation product that doesn’t need any pre-stretching before its use.
• The system is complete with all the relevant clevis connections to the columns and to the
covering elements, and can be easily customized to match with both structural and aesthetical
requirements.
3) PEDESTRIAN WALKWAYS:-
• Applications include stay cables or hangers
for pedestrian walkways, tied-arch-bridges
and other cabled structures.
• Cable stays or hangers are made using
parallel strands with low relaxation or, in
some cases, using high strength bars.
• In case of parallel strands systems, the
complete bundle can be either prefabricated
on ground /in the warehouse and then lifted to its final position or each single element can
thread one by one.
• The choice of the best configuration can be made for each single project and depending from
the need of each single site and construction sequence.
COMPONENTS

• Cables-suspend the roadway(deck) via

hangers

• Towers- stabilize wire cables (offer little

support)

• Anchorages- key to the structure, mass that

keeps cables tight, gives the bridge structure
CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE
1.TOWERS
1.The piers are then extended above water level, where they
are capped with pedestal bases for the towers.

2.From where 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.

2. SADDLES

Large devices called saddles, which will carry the main

suspension cables, are positioned atop the towers

3.ANCHORAGE

Anchorages are the structures to which the ends of the bridge's

cables are secured. They are massive concrete blocks securely
attached to strong rock formations

4.CATWALKS

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.

5.CABLE SPINNING

High strength wire (typically 4- or 6-gauge galvanized steel wire), is

pulled in a loop by pulleys on the traveler, with one end

6.HANGERS / VERTICAL CABLES

• At specific points along the main cable devices called

"cable bands “(clamps) 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.

CASE OF CABLE STAYED BRIDGE

Stage 1: The pylon above the main piers are erected.

Stage 2: A balanced free cantilever is initiated by using derrick cranes which operate on the
deck to lift up the girder segments. These are transported to the site on barges.

Stage 3: As the cantilevers grow, the stay cables are installed and tensioned to their initial
forces to carry the weight of the newly erected segment.
 Stage 4: The bridge is closed at mid span and the additional loading is applied

Construction stage for cable stayed bridge

BANDRA-WORLI SEA LINK

• The main cable stayed section of the

bridge spans 600m in length, consisting of
two 250m cable supported spans and two
50m conventional approach spans.

• The smaller cable stayed section is 350m

in length and comprises of 2 smaller cable
stayed sections with a 150m central span
and 2 50m approach spans on either side.

• The overall tower configuration is an

inverted "Y" shape with the inclined legs oriented along the axis of the bridge”

• In total there are 264 cables attached to the towers, they form a semi-fan arrangement.

• The bridge deck is constructed of pre cast box girder sections

Design:

• BWSL was designed as the first cable-stayed bridge to be constructed in open seas in India.

• Due to the underlying geology, the pylons have a complex geometry and the main span over
the Bandra channel is one of the longest spans of concrete deck attempted.
 • Balancing these engineering complexities with the
aesthetics of the bridge presented significant challenges
for the project.

• The superstructure of the viaducts were the

heaviest precast segments to be built in India.

• They were built using a span-by-span method using

overhead gantry through a series of vertical and horizontal
curves.

Pylon tower: BWSL's largest pylon towers are 128 m (420

ft) high.
The largest pylons for
the bridge consist of
diamond shaped 128
meters (420 ft) high
concrete tower with continuously varying cross section along
the height of tower

• The 20,000 tone Bandra-end span of the bridge deck is

supported by stay cables within a very close tolerance of deviations in plan and elevation.
The Bandra–Worli Sea Link is the first infrastructure project in Mumbai to use seismic
arresters.

• Seismic arresters will enable the sea link to withstand earthquakes measuring up to 8.0 on
the Richter scale

• Northern & Southern viaducts:

The viaducts on either side of the central
cable-stayed spans are arranged in 300-
metre (980 ft) units consisting of six
continuous spans of 50 meters (160 ft) each.
Expansion joints are provided at each end of
the units.

• The cable-stayed portion of the Worli

channel is 350 metres (1,550 ft) in length
between expansion joints. A centre tower,
with an overall height of 55 metres above
pile cap level, supports the superstructure by means of four planes of cable stay. Cable
spacing is 6.0 metres along the bridge deck

• A total of 160 cable stays are used at Bandra channel with cable lengths varying from
approximately 30 meters to nearly 80 meters.

• Cable-stayed spans: The cable-stayed portion of the Bandra channel is 600 metres (2,000 ft)
in length between expansion joints. A centre tower, with an overall height of 128 metres
above pile cap level, supports the superstructure by means of four planes of cable stay.
 • Cable spacing is 6.0 metres along the bridge deck. A total of 264 cable stays are used at
Bandra channel with cable lengths varying from approximately 85 metres to nearly 250
metres.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the longest
suspension bridges in the world. Built across
the Golden Gate or the opening of the San
Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean, the Golden
Gate Bridge is a symbol of great engineering
feats. Connecting the city of San Francisco and
California, the Golden Gate is a well-known civil
engineering symbol not only in America, but
throughout the world.

 . Length of the span is one of the most important criteria for building a bridge, especially when
the bridge is a suspension one, having a length of 1970 meters.
 Dead load is the total weight of the materials used in the construction of the bridge. For Golden
Gate it was kept 21,300 pounds per lineal foot.
 Dynamic or wind load is the load by the wind force on the bridge. For Golden Gate it was
kept 30 pounds per square foot for the cables and 50 pounds per square foot for the towers.
 Terrain is an important aspect while designing a bridge. It plays an important part in making the
bridge foundation and for the ships that will be using the waterway beneath it. For this reason,
special criteria were made for each tower, depending on the terrain on which it was made.
 Maintenance is one more important aspect as just constructing the bridge is not enough. It was
thus decided that the vehicles using the Golden Bridge will have to pay a toll, which would
ensure the bridge’s maintenance costs.
DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS

 Design of the Golden Gate Bridge consists of two main towers at the center.

 The weight of the entire bridge is supported by two cables that run parallel to each other on

either side, passing through the two towers and fixed to the concrete structures at each end.

 The cables used in the bridge consist of 80,000 miles of wire and 27572 strands.
BRIDGE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION STATISTICS

LENGTH
Total length of Bridge including approaches from abutment to abutment: 1.7 miles = 8,981 ft =
2,737 m Total length of Bridge including the distance to the Toll Plaza: 9,150 ft = 2,788 m Length
of suspension span including main span and side spans: 1.2 miles = 6,450 ft = 1,966 m Length of
main span portion of suspended structure (distance between towers): 4,200 ft = 1,280 m Length
of one side span: 1,125 ft = 343 m
WIDTH
Width of Bridge: 90 ft = 27 m Width of roadway between curbs: 62 ft = 19 m Width of sidewalk:
10 ft = 3 m
HEIGHT
Clearance above mean higher high water: 220 ft = 67
m
WEIGHT
Total weight of each anchorage: 60,000 tons =
54,400,000 kg Original combined weight of Bridge,
anchorages, and approaches: 894,500 tons =
811,500,000 kg Total weight of Bridge, anchorages,
and approaches (1937): 894,500 tons = 811,500,000
kg (1986): 887,000 tons = 804,700,00 kg Weight of
Bridge, excluding anchorages and approaches, and
including the suspended structure, main towers, piers
and fenders, bottom lateral system and orthotropic
redecking (1986): 419,800 tons = 380,800,000 kg

FOUNDATION
Foundation comprised of 2 anchorage blocks, 64000
tons of concrete and steel, 1 for each of the 2 main suspension cables Running out 1100 feet into
the golden gate from the fort, is the contractors’ working trestle, ending up at south is the San
Francisco pier location. The construction of this pier practically enabled 1 of the most difficult
foundation jobs ever attempted. The pier will support of the 2 746 foot steel towers. It was
necessary to build the south tower
offshore, but working so far into the open
water of the gate, made the trestle a
sitting target for disaster. Once by the
sheer force of the raging pacific current
the trestle was sliced into 2, washing 2
million cubic feet of water past the site
every second. The disaster took 10 months
of hard labor to repair. In building the San
Francisco pier it was necessary to excavate
down into the rock to a depth of over 100
feet below the surface of the golden gate,
and over an area of an acre, this was done
by the ‘Pilot Bomb’ method. Small bombs
were inserted in guide tubes, carefully
located over the spot desired; dropped and
fired. This looses the rock sufficiently, so the cranes can get to work. Unlike the south tower twin,
the north tower was erected on solid ground of the Marine county shore.

CABLE
Each wire was specially designed for golden gate bridge
from carbon and alloy steel, meeting exact
characteristics. Samples were tested for elongation and
strength exceeding 235,000 pounds per sq inch. In the
end these flexible wires would be a part of a 3 foot thick
cables, but it was necessary to weave these wires on
site, 746 feet above the water surface, in windy
conditions of faster than 45 miles an hr. A crane was
used to lift the first few strands of the cable. Once they
were in place, a mid-span work platform was lowered
across the gap. The operation was not a complete
success at first attempts.

MAIN CABLE STATS

 The Golden Gate Bridge has two main cables which pass over the tops of the two main towers

and are secured at either end in giant anchorages.

 The main cables rest on top of the 746-foot main towers in huge steel castings called saddles.

 Diameter of one main cable including the exterior wrapping: 36 3/8 in. = .92 m

 Length of one main cable: 7,650 ft = 2,332 m

 Total length of galvanized steel wire used in both main cables: 80,000 mi = 129,000 km

 Number of galvanized steel wires in one main cable that are 0.192 inches in diameter: 27,572

 Number of bundles or strands of galvanized steel wire in one main cable: 61

 Weight of both main cables, suspender cables and accessories: 24,500 tons = 22,200,000 kg

 The galvanized steel wire comprising each main cable was laid by spinning the wire using a

loom-type shuttle that moved back and forth as it laid the wire in place to form the cables.

The spinning of the main cable wires was completed in 6 months and 9 days.