Cable Innovation and Size Distinguish a Trio of Cable-Stayed Giants
By cramming the same amount of stay cable steel into 35% less space, builders of a record-breaking bridge in Vietnam can satisfy higher than planned wind speeds without late structural changes. Developed for the worlds longest centrally supported, concrete cable-stayed Bai Chay Bridge, the "compact duct" system came too late to help designers of the vast Stonecutters crossing in Hong Kong.
To straddle Rambler Channel with a 1,018-meter main span, Hong Kongs $350-million Stonecutters Bridge will be wide open to typhoons. With its stays exerting high wind forces, the designers had to specify parallel wire cables rather than the fatter strand option, says Naeem Hussain, a director of lead designer Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd.