Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong: stay cables and geometry control

Abstract

During the initial phase of the detailed design of Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong, site-assembled multi-strand stay cables were the preferred option owing to their ease of installation. However, when more detailed information on the wind climate at the bridge site became available during the detailed design, it became apparent that the wind effects were significantly higher than had been assumed during the review phase. As a result of this, the bridge could no longer be made to perform satisfactorily without extensive changes to the back-span superstructure unless more compact parallel wire system stays were used in the design. This paper describes the design of the stay cables, some of the tests carried out during fabrication and the geometry control of the bridge deck and towers during erection of the bridge.