Stiffening of predestrian concrete suspension bridges

Abstract

One of the main problems in the design of pedestrian suspension bridges is the deformability of the bridge under the action of non-symmetric loading. Possible solutions have been suggested recently by new designs where stiffening is achieved via the introduction of alternative cable systems. In this work a hypothetical very slender 200m span pedestrian concrete suspension bridge is predimensioned. Although the bridge is structurally resistant, it is seen that the application of the live load causes excessive movements from a serviceability point of view. Several alternative proposals are analysed to reduce this effect. Among the studied cases, introducing curvature in the deck and postensioning additional cables or installing a dual cable system are seen to be very promising regarding the reduction in the vertical movements.