• Question: How do suspension bridges stop from falling down?

    Asked by isaackaufmann to Derek, Elaine, Heather, Keith on 27 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Heather Eyre

      Heather Eyre answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      Suspension bridges are amazing! They are one of the feats engineering that have always fascinated me.

      Did you know the Humber Bridge (near Hull) used to be the longest single span (that means only two pillars) suspension bridge in the whole world – it’s now 7th!

      The pillars of the bridge support a really strong cable (that is made of lots of smaller cables twisted together). each of these big cables is a main cable and is anchored in to the ground at each end by a massive weight.

      The road (or rail) is then hung from the main cable by lots of smaller cables. The weight of the smaller cables, and the road, keeps tension on the main cables which keeps the bridge up.

      There are some nice diagrams here: http://www.technologystudent.com/culture1/akashi1.htm

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