CABLE STRUCTURES
Advantages
Product development has been carried out through the years in order to meet special project requirements and to introduce stay cable systems within new application fields. New systems have been specifically developed to be used for suspended bridges, where both suspension cables and vertical hangers are made with parallel strands suitably protected against corrosion. Specially designed clamps have been introduced to allow the connection between different cables and spread the use of stay cable systems within suspended structures. The new generation of type TSRF anchorages meets this requirement of use within a various range of applications such as suspended bridges and structures.
As a further improvement, the system has also been designed to be used with epoxy coated strand: suspended bridges are now the best design solution to use this updated product.
Applications include stay cables or hangers for pedestrian walkways, tied-arch-bridges and other cabled structures like suspended roofs and suspended bridges.
The TENSA technologies widely applied in cable structures are meant to:
- Allow the construction of lightweight and slender structures (i.e. suspended roofs, pedestrian walkways, …)
- Speed up the construction process and allow easy monitoring and maintenance of the structures
The complete suspension system of this type of bridge can be realized using parallel strands system, that can be installed one by one directly on site without the needing of high capacity lifting equipment. In addition, being the system modular, every cable capacity can be reached without particular limitation, and moreover the system ensures high performances in terms of fatigue and in terms of durability. The vertical hangers can be made both with parallel strands system or with bars, depending on the desired performances, finishing grade and various design considerations.
Lightweight roofs are usually realized using cable structures as main structural element, since they allow an easy and quick construction sequence. In particular, being the main tensile element made by a bundle of parallel strands, it is possible to prepare cables of the required length and capacity directly on site and without the needing of any special equipment. This because the main tensile element is already a low relaxation product that doesn’t need any pre-stretching before its use. The system is complete with all the relevant clevis connections to the columns and to the covering elements, and can be easily customized to match with both structural and aesthetical requirements.
Lightweight covers/roofs are generally supported or restrained using steel bars with opportune structural performances, that will ensure low deformability and give the structures the required rigidity.
Applications include stay cables or hangers for pedestrian walkways, tied-arch-bridges and other cabled structures. Cable stays or hangers are made using parallel strands with low relaxation or, in some cases, using high strength bars. In case of parallel strands systems, the complete bundle can be either prefabricated on ground / in the warehouse and then lifted to its final position or each single elements can threaded one by one. The choice of the best configuration can be made for each single project and depending from the need of each single site and construction sequence.
