2The notable developments in composite cable-stayed bridges over the past 50 years are presented. Reference is made to modern designs and construction methods of medium-and long-span highway decks and highway and railway composite truss decks. Future trends in composite cable-stayed bridges are discussed, referring especially to the prospect of future developments in the field of materials, cables and bridge designs.
Composite cable-stayed developmentsCable-stayed structures are elegant and efficient solutions for bridges. In the past 50 years, the range of these bridges has been steadily increasing and they are currently the most used for medium and long spans. For spans over 1000 m, cablestayed bridges can now compete with suspension bridges.Design and construction of cable-stayed bridges can be modified to overcome any difficulty, being a very aesthetically pleasing type of structure. These features have contributed to their growing success and continuous design and construction developments.A deck suspended by stay cables and supported by piers and pylons forms the superstructure of a cable-stayed bridge. All these structural elements may have many configurations, which create a variety of possible solutions. This feature allows cable-stayed bridges to be used in a large range of spans, from small pedestrian urban crossings to road decks with very long spans, such as the Tatara Bridge in Japan ( Longer cable-stayed bridges are now being designed, combining cable stays and suspension cables. In this respect, the Third Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, presently under construction with a 1408 m long main span, will be a leading example.