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THE NORMANDY BRIDGE (CABLE STAY BRIDGE) |
V. Ryan © 2002 - 2009 |
Le Pont De Normandie or the Normandy Bridge (Northern France) is one of the largest cable stay bridges in the world and while under construction the building site was the largest in France. Over 1600 people were employed to help design and build the bridge including designers, engineers, suppliers and people from other sectors of industry. It was built from 1988 to 1995 and at this time it was the longest in the world. |
LE PONT DE NORMANDIE, NORTHERN FRANCE |
One of the main reasons for building a cable stay bridge is that it is more stable in the wind than a suspension bridge but also it is less expensive to construct. The Normandy Bridge has 184 cable stays which support the weight of the deck. The bridge was tested after completion with a weight of lorries equal to 16000 tons. each of the two pylons which hold the cables are 214 metres in height and weigh 20,000 tons |
Look at a photograph of a suspension bridge (below) and compare it to the cable stay bridge above. What are the differences? You may find the diagrams below helpful as they show the differences more clearly. |
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA |
QUESTIONS |
Draw simple diagrams of a cable stay bridge and a suspension bridge. The diagrams should clearly show how the two types of bridge differ. Add notes. |
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