Aalto University

School of Engineering Department of Structural Engineering and Building Technology Rak-11.3001 Design of Bridges 14.11.2012

Suspension Bridges

Alvaro Aduna Joni Lhde

Contents
CONTENTS...................................................................................................................... 1 SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATION ................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 2 1.1. General Information ................................................................................................. 2 1.2. History ..................................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Description ............................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Types of Suspension Bridges .................................................................................... 4 2. STRUCTURES ............................................................................................................. 5 2.1. Structural Members .................................................................................................. 5 2.1.1. Cables ................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.2. Saddles ................................................................................................................. 6 2.1.3. Deck ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.4. Towers .................................................................................................................. 7 2.1.5. Anchors ................................................................................................................ 8 3. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 9 3.1. Basic formulae ......................................................................................................... 9 3.2. Aerodynamics ........................................................................................................ 10 3.2.1. Vortex Shedding ................................................................................................. 10 3.2.2. Buffeting ............................................................................................................. 10 3.2.3. Torsional Instability and Flutter .......................................................................... 10 4. CONSTRUCTION AND COSTS ................................................................................ 11 4.1. Construction ........................................................................................................... 11 4.2. Costs ...................................................................................................................... 14 5. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 14 5.1. Advantages ............................................................................................................ 14 5.2. Disadvantages ........................................................................................................ 14 6. LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 14

Symbols and abbreviation

f H L M M w x y Sag at mid span Horizontal component of cable reaction Bridge main span length Bending moment Relative bending moment Uniform dead load Horizontal coordinate Vertical coordinate

1. Introduction
1.1. General Information
DEFINITION: a suspension bridge is a type of bridge that has its deck suspended by suspension cables, which usually pass over towers and are securely anchored at the ends. The deck is then hug on vertical suspenders attached to the suspension cables, which have a catenary shape. Of all the types of bridges, the suspension bridge is the one that allows the longest spans. It has a span range from 70 to 2000 meters. The longest suspension bridge in the world is presently the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, which total length is 3911 m. and has a span of 1991 m.

Fig 1. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan (1991 m. span)

1.2. History
The earliest suspension bridges were made of rope and wood, to cross rivers, canyons, etc. In the 15th century, the Tibetan Thangtong Gyalpo originated the use of iron chains for building suspension bridges, with spans of more than 100 m. while in Europe spans of more than 20 meters were regarded as significant achievement.

Fig 2. Thangtong Gyalpo Bridge, Tibet (more than 100 m. span)

The firsts designs of the modern suspension bridges were made in the lasts 16th century by the Venetian Fausto Veranzio. One of the firsts bridges which incorporate all of the necessary components of a suspension bridge was the Jacobs Creek Bridge, with a span of 21 m., built in 1801. Also, at the beginning of the 19th century, the firsts wire-cable suspension bridges appeared. Early, with the invention of the steel in the 19th century, the span of the suspension bridges started to increase to become what we know and see today.

Fig 3. Jacob's Creek Bridge, EEUU (21 m. span)

1.3. Description
A typical suspension bridge is a continuous girder suspended by suspension cables, which pass through the main towers due to a special structure known as a saddle, and end on big anchorages that hold them. These suspension cables are load on tension. Lateral loads on the bridge are resisted partly by deck flexural stiffness and partly by gravitational resistance of the main cables. The deck, which is usually a truss or box girder (even plate girders are not uncommon), is connected to the suspension cables by hangers, which are also load on tension. The main towers are responsible of transmitting the entire load to the soil. The suspension cables are carefully balanced so that the force pulling inward on the towers is equal to the force pulling outward. As a result, the weight pulls directly down into the base of the tower, making it working just on compression (but never forgetting other forces like wind, earthquakes, etc).

4 At the end of the bridge, large anchored are placed to hold the suspension cables. These anchors are responsible of holding all the tension of these cables in a productive and safe way.

Fig 4. Typical setup of suspension bridge

1.4. Types of Suspension Bridges

One way to classify suspension bridges is to define then by stiffening system: suspended stiffening truss bridges (Fig 5a.) and suspension bridges with overhead braced-chain construction (Fig 5b.). Since braced-chain bridges are generally not so common and therefore focusing here on deck-stiffened suspension bridges.

Fig 5a. Oakland Bay Bridge, San Francisco, CA

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Fig 5b. Point suspension Bridge, Pittsburg, PA

The suspension bridge may have different length side spans and the bridge deck may be suspended either in all three spans or in the main span only, when the side span cables act simply as backstays to the towers. There is many variations: the main cable level can set even lower than the deck or bridge can self-anchored and so on. However, the most typical suspension bridge is single-span externally anchored bridge with truss or portal shape pylons and two main cables with vertical hangers.

Fig 6. Freiburg Bridge Switzerland, built 1834

2. Structures
2.1. Structural Members
The picture below presents the essential structural members and elements of typical suspension bridge.

Fig 7. Diagram of Structural members of Three-span bridge

2.1.1. Cables The principal carrying member is the cable and in case of suspension bridges it is even more important than the deck member itself. In other structures, the failure of a single deck truss member will precipitate a collapse; in a suspension bridge, the rest of the structure can be unaffected as long as the cables remain. Considering the life cycle of the bridge, it is essential to provide the main cables with proper corrosion protection.

Fig 8. Main cable cross-section example

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 high-strength steel wire, most often diameter between 5 and 5.5 mm. The tensile strength of cables typically 1570 Mpa and 0.2% proof stress of around 1200 MPa. But even higher-strength wire with a minimum tensile strength of 1800 MPa is produced, and has been used for the cables of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. The hangers that connect the suspended deck and stiffening girder to the main cables are normally aligned vertically and located along the span at equal intervals with a spacing close enough to distribute the suspended deck dead load as an almost continuously distributed load on the cable. 2.1.2. Saddles At the towers, each main cable must be supported by a saddle consisting of a longitudinally curved trough to deflect the cable through the required angle and which is supported on a grid of longitudinal stiffeners and radial ribs to transmit and diffuse the cable load into the supporting tower structure. The shape of the trough is determined by the type of cable.

Fig 9. Tower saddle for spiral strand cable

2.1.3. Deck Deck structures were relatively heavy and most commonly deep stiffening trusses (Fig. 10) during the mid-19th century when the United States became the unchallenged center of suspension bridge design and construction in the world. These kinds of bridges were built the next 100 years, developing the deck structure lighter and narrower while steadily increasing span lengths.

Fig 10. Cross-section of truss stiffening girger

After mid-20th century designers adopted progressively more slender deck structures with a narrow deck stiffened by plate girders of extremely low torsional stiffness until it caused a well-known Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse (built 1940) by violent torsional oscillations in moderate winds (see Analysis chap.).

Fig 11. Plate girger cross-section

1966 British engineers came up with an idea of replacing the conventional truss stiffened deck with a shallow-depth streamlined box girder which acts as both load-carrying deck and stiffening girder. Reduced wind load in slender low-drag structure enabled further significant saving in deck and hence also cable weight and since the concept has been widespread adopted and the preferred option for most suspended deck structures.

Fig 12. Box girger cross-section

2.1.4. Towers The towers support the main span cable usually at a height sufficient to provide the required cable sag above the level of the stiffening girder, and also support the end bearings of the

8 stiffening girders. The primary loading on the towers is therefore compressive, combined with longitudinal and transverse bending from wind and traffic loading. During the second half of 20th century concrete became a preferred material for tower construction as towers are predominantly loaded in compression. Before that pylons were steel towers of multi-cell construction and even today steel may be economic due decreased self-weight in cases of relatively poor ground conditions or areas subject to moderate or severe earthquake conditions.

Fig 13. Examples of tower cross-sections

2.1.5. Anchors The anchorages secure the ends of the main cables and transfer their force into the ground. The direction of the cable forces is determined by the side span geometry, but is predominantly horizontal with a smaller upward component. Where sound unfaulted rock exists close to the surface, it will be possible to transfer the cable forces directly to the rock, but often this is not the case and gravity anchorage is required. The inclination of the cable to the horizontal will generally be around 1015 degrees, and typical values of the base friction could be in the range 0.30.5 which means the anchorage dead load will need to be of the order of 3.5 times the total cable load, so that gravity anchorages are necessarily very massive and thereby usually concrete structures.

Fig 14. Storebaelt anchor block

3. Design and Analysis

Suspended cables resist applied loads primarily by adjusting their geometry to accord with the applied loading and as a result their structural behavior differs considerably from that of beam-type structures. The widespread availability of computer analysis tools (finite-element software) for the three-dimensional large displacement analysis of geometrically non-linear structures has now largely rendered analytical methods obsolete. Still some simplified analysis methods for hand calculations are useful for rough dimensioning.

Fig 15. Structural models shown in Suspension Bridge Design Handbook from year 1922.

3.1. Basic formulae

Let M denote the bending moment by vertical actions calculated as simple beam. Since H is the horizontal component of the end reaction, total moment at any point of the cable will M. The cable is assumed flexible (M = 0); hence y can be determined

M = M '- H y

y=

M' H

Fig 16. Force diagram

10 where H is the horizontal component of cable reaction. In case of symmetric cable system and specific dead-load sag the horizontal force can defined

H=

wL2 8f

where f is the sag at mid span and w uniform load (hanger reactions distributed to span length) . The cable overall shape is parabola, defined as
y= 4f x( L - x) L2

3.2. Aerodynamics
Measures to prevent aerodynamic instability, including adequate torsional stiffness in the suspended deck, are now an essential part of the suspension bridge design process. Structures are subjected to different types of aerodynamic actions due wind conditions. The most essential occurrences are shortly introduced below. 3.2.1. Vortex Shedding Vortex shedding is an unsteady flow that takes place in special flow velocities. In this flow, vortices are created at the back of the body and detach periodically from either side of the body. If frequency of vortex shedding matches the resonance frequency of the structure, the structure can begin to resonate, vibrating with harmonic oscillations driven by the energy of the wind flow. Vortex shedding phenomenon generally occurs for lower wind speeds and frequently occurring vertex shedding might lead to fatigue of structure. 3.2.2. Buffeting Buffeting means high-frequency instability, caused by airflow separation or shock wave oscillations from one object striking another. It is caused by a sudden impulse of wind load increasing. The bridge response to buffeting will depend on the turbulence intensity, the shape of the structural element and its natural frequency. 3.2.3. Torsional Instability and Flutter Flutter is a self-feeding and potentially destructive vibration where wind forces act on structure's natural mode of vibration. The vibrational movement of the object increases an aerodynamic load, which in turn drives the object to move further, which can result in large amplitude vibration and potentially lead to rapid failure. Because of this, bridges must be designed carefully within known parameters to define the natural frequency of the structure to avoid flutter.

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4. Construction and costs

4.1. Construction
Depending on the length and size, the time needed for the construction of a bridge can go from around a year and a half (construction on the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge took only 19 months) to as many as a decade (the Akashi-Kaiky Bridge's construction lasted a total of twelve years). The construction sequence goes as follows: 1. Where the towers are founded underwater, 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 the hard soil, or a large concrete pad to distribute the weight over less resistant soil. Where the towers are founded on dry land, deep foundation excavation or pilings are used. 2. 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. 3. Then, saddles are positioned at the top of the towers to carry the main suspension cables. 4. Anchorages are constructed, usually at the same time than the towers, to resist the tension of the cables and form the main anchor system for the entire structure. 5. Temporary suspended walkways are then erected using a set of guide wires hoisted into place via winches positioned at the top of the towers. These walkways follow the curve set by bridge designers for the main cables. Typical suspended walkways are usually between 2.5 and 3 meters wide, and are constructed using wire grate and wood slats. 6. Gantries are placed upon the suspended walkways, which will support the main cable. Then, cables attached to winches are installed. 7. High strength wire is pulled by pulleys through the suspended walkway, with one end affixed at an anchorage, until it reaches the other site, where it is hold by some loops to the anchorage. Along the suspended walkway, workers pull the cable wires to their desired tension. Then the entire cable is then compressed by a traveling hydraulic press into a closely packed cylinder and tightly wrapped with additional. Then, the other site is finally anchorage. 8. Then, the suspender cables are installed at specific points along the main cable (each being the exact distance horizontally in relation to the next) being looped over some devices called "cable bands", which are installed to carry them. Each suspender cable has to be designed and cut to precise lengths. 9. 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. Otherwise, a traveling cantilever derrick may be used to extend the deck one section at a time starting from the towers and working outward.

12 10. Finally, the last details have to be done, like lighting, handrails, finish painting and paving. Some images of the construction of several suspension bridges, to illustrate the theory:

Fig 17. Aizhai Extra Large Suspension Bridge, China (1176 m. span)

Fig 18. Aizhai Extra Large Suspension Bridge, China (1176 m. span). Worker checking the main cables.

Fig 19. Tsing Ma suspension bridge, China (1377 m. span)

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Fig 20. Christopher S. Bond suspension bridge, USA (168 m. span)

Fig 21. Taizhou Bridge, China (1080 m. span)

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4.2. Costs
The typical cost of suspension bridges ranges from 6,275 to 7,000 per square meter of road. But this prices depends if the pillars foundation is underwater or in dry-soil, and in the material and characteristics of the soil where the anchors are built, among other issues. Some examples: Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan (1991 m. span): 3.375 billion . Xihoumen Bridge, China (1650 m. span): 285 million . Great Belt Bridge, Denmark (1624 m. span): 2860 million . Messina Bridge, Italy (3300 m. span): 6.1 billion (not built yet).

5. Conclusions
5.1. Advantages
Longer spans can be reached than with other types of bridges. Less material may be required than other bridge types, therefore the construction cost will be reduced. It may endure better than other more rigid and heavier bridges the action of earthquakes. It is one of the most beautiful types of bridges.

5.2. Disadvantages
Considerable stiffness or aerodynamic profiling may be required to prevent the vibration under the action of the wing. The relatively low deck stiffness, compared to other types of bridges, makes more difficult for it to carry heavy rail traffic. Even less material is required, for small spans may be more expensive.

6. List of References
Gerard Parke, Nigel Hewson: Manual of Bridge Engineering (ICE), 2nd edition D. B. Steinman: A Practical Treatise on Suspension Bridges, 1922 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_bridge http://www.partnershipborderstudy.com/pdf/Suspension%20Bridge_2.pdf http://www.nssmc.com/en/product/use/case/bridge/akashi.html/ http://www.bhutantravelportal.com/bhutanese_figures/bridge_builder.php http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4672299_suspension-bridge-work.html

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