A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers, from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is in contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the deck are suspended vertically from the main cable, anchored at both ends of the bridge and running between the towers. The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and shorter than suspension bridges. This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier, and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculptural forms often resemble living organisms. His best-known works include the Olympic Sports Complex of Athens, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Turning Torso tower in Malmö, Sweden, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City, the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas, and his largest project, the City of Arts and Sciences and Opera House in his birthplace, Valencia. His architectural firm has offices in New York City, Doha, and Zürich.
The Sundial Bridge is a cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge for bicycles and pedestrians that spans the Sacramento River in Redding, California, United States and forms a large sundial. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2004 at a cost of US$23.5 million. The bridge has become iconic for Redding.
The City of Arts and Sciences is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important and modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.
The Puente de la Mujer is a rotating footbridge for Dock 3 of the Puerto Madero commercial district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is of the cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge type and is also a swing bridge, but somewhat unusual in its asymmetrical arrangement. It has a single mast with cables suspending a portion of the bridge which rotates 90 degrees in order to allow water traffic to pass. When it swings to allow watercraft passage, the far end comes to a resting point on a stabilizing pylon.
The Alamillo Bridge is a structure in Seville, Andalucia (Spain), which spans the Canal de Alfonso XIII, allowing access to La Cartuja, a peninsula located between the canal and the Guadalquivir River. The bridge was constructed as part of infrastructure improvements for Expo 92, which was held on large banana farms on the island. Construction of the bridge began in 1989 and was completed in 1992 from a design by Santiago Calatrava.
The Technical University of Valencia, shortened to UPV, is a Spanish university located in Valencia, with a focus on science, technology, and arts. It was founded in 1968 as the Higher Polytechnic School of Valencia and became a university in 1971, but some of its schools are more than 100 years old.
A cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge is a modern variation of the cable-stayed bridge. This design has been pioneered by the structural engineer Santiago Calatrava in 1992 with the Puente del Alamillo in Seville, Spain. In two of his designs the force distribution does not depend solely upon the cantilever action of the spar (pylon); the angle of the spar away from the bridge and the weight distribution in the spar serve to reduce the overturning forces applied to the footing of the spar. In contrast, in his swinging Puente de la Mujer design (2002), the spar reaches toward the cable supported deck and is counterbalanced by a structural tail. In the Assut de l'Or Bridge (2008), the curved backward pylon is back-stayed to concrete counterweights.
The Zubizuri, also called the Campo Volantin Bridge or Puente del Campo Volantin, is a tied arch footbridge across the Nervion River in Bilbao, Spain. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, the bridge links the Campo Volantin right bank and Uribitarte left bank of the river.
An extradosed bridge employs a structure that combines the main elements of both a prestressed box girder bridge and a cable-stayed bridge. The name comes from the word extrados, the exterior or upper curve of an arch, and refers to how the "stay cables" on an extradosed bridge are not considered as such in the design, but are instead treated as external prestressing tendons deviating upward from the deck. In this concept, they remain part of the main bridge superstructure.
The Seri Wawasan Bridge is one of the main bridges in the planned city Putrajaya, the new (2001) Malaysian federal territory and administrative centre. This futuristic asymmetric cable-stayed bridge with a forward-inclined pylon has a sailing ship appearance, accented at night with changeable color lighting. The bridge, also called Bridge No. 9, crosses Putrajaya Lake, an artificial lake made to provide natural cooling, and connects Precinct 2 on the Core Island, where the main government buildings are located, to the residential area of Precinct 8, 9.
The Seri Saujana Bridge is a main bridge in the planned city Putrajaya, the new (2001) Malaysian federal territory and administrative centre. The bridge's design is a unique combination of a symmetric cable-stayed structure and a through-arch bridge; the through-arch bridge portion is reminiscent of a slender version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Erasmusbrug is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge, construction began in 1986 and was completed in 1996. It crosses the Nieuwe Maas in the centre of Rotterdam, connecting the north and south parts of this city, second largest in the Netherlands. The bridge was named in 1992 after Desiderius Erasmus, a prominent Christian Renaissance humanist also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam. The Erasmus Bridge is Rotterdam's most important landmark and is even part of the city's official logo.
The year 2008 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
The Chords Bridge, also called the Bridge of Strings or Jerusalem Light Rail Bridge, is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge in Jerusalem. The structure was designed by the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava and is used by Jerusalem Light Rail's Red Line, which began service on August 19, 2011. Incorporated in the bridge is a glass-sided pedestrian bridge enabling pedestrians to cross from Kiryat Moshe to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. The bridge, which cost about $70 million, was inaugurated on June 25, 2008.
A parabolic arch is an arch in the shape of a parabola. In structures, their curve represents an efficient method of load, and so can be found in bridges and in architecture in a variety of forms.
Samuel Beckett Bridge is a cable-stayed swingbridge in Dublin, Ireland that joins Sir John Rogerson's Quay on the south side of the River Liffey to Guild Street and North Wall Quay in the Docklands area.
The Baluarte Bridge, officially the Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge in Mexico. It is located between the municipalities of Concordia in Sinaloa and Pueblo Nuevo in Durango, along the Durango–Mazatlán highway, Mexico 40D. The bridge has a total length of 1,124 m (3,688 ft), with a central cable-stayed span of 520 m (1,710 ft). With the road deck at 403 m (1,322 ft) above the valley below, the Baluarte Bridge is the third-highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the seventh-highest bridge overall and the highest bridge in the Americas.
The Tirantes Bridge is a cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Lérez River in the city of Pontevedra, Spain, linking the south bank to the north bank at the level of the city's Congress Hall.
