Day 100
Bucksport, Maine
Stayed Cable Bridge
This is a Cable Stayed Bridge. It was the most beautiful bridge of my entire tour. I was pleasantly surprised to find one in this fairly remote area.
The Cable Stayed Bridge is a hybrid design suspension bridge where most of the load is carried by the towers allowing for longer suspended deck spans. The first Cable Stayed Bridge in the United States was built in 1983. The world’s longest Cable Stayed Bridges (many of them) are in China. These are a relatively new design compared to the more traditional Suspension Bridge.
The traditional Suspension Bridge (like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge) use two massive main cables draped over the top of the towers and are anchored to concrete blocks on the shore. The road deck hangs down from these main cables using smaller vertical suspender cables.
The Cable-Stayed Bridge uses individual cables attached directly to the towers and running diagonally directly down to the road deck. The do now use vertical suspender cables or heavy shore anchorages.
