List of Steel Deck Design Standards: [Show]
Cable stayed bridges
are generally used for bridge spans between 150m and 1000m. They are
often chosen for their aesthetics, but are generally economical for
spans in excess of 250m.
Cable stayed girders
were developed in Germany during the reconstruction period after the last
war and attributed largely to the works of Fritz Leonhardt. Straight cables
are connected directly to the deck and induce significant axial forces
into the deck. The structure is consequently self anchoring and depends
less on the foundation conditions than the suspension bridge.
The cables and the deck are erected at the same time which speeds up the
construction time and reduces the amount of temporary works required.
The cable lengths are adjusted during construction to counteract the dead
load deflections of the deck due to extension in the cable.
Most early cable-stayed bridges have an orthotropic deck, mainly because the long span bridges were usually built by steel companies. It was considered economical to use composite slabs for spans up to about 250m. Developments in concrete technology have now allowed higher grade strenghs to be used. This development, combined with the increased cost of steel, has seen longer composite deck spans being used economically. Spans in excess of 600m are now being built using a steel-concrete composite box girder constuction.
Either box girders or plate girders (for the shorter spans) can be used in the deck, however if a single plane of cables is used then it is essential to use the box girder construction to achieve torsional stability.
Bridge Components | Choice of Deck