Good bones are important. But you can’t lift heavy weights without muscles of steel. Such is the case for a class of bridges called cable stayed bridges. This month, the new bridge is finally gaining its muscles – specifically, its powerful stay cables.
They will connect the bridge’s four sets of massive, V-shaped concrete towers to its twin roadways. As a constant stream of cars and trucks crosses the bridge, the cables’ extreme tension will transfer the weight of those vehicles from the roadways to the towers – the bridge’s concrete backbone. The towers, in turn, will channel all of the compressional force into the earth.
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