Long-Span Cable-Supported Bridges' Performance Improvements in Extreme Winds: Five Case Studies

摘要

Long-span cable-supported bridges are very flexible and are susceptible to a dynamic, instability in strong winds flutter. Discussed in this paper are five case studies where the anticipated critical flutter wind speeds were low in the original design, but increased dramatically by making small changes to the geometry of the deck cross-section. In none of the cases were excessive motions observed; they were only anticipated in the design phase. Four of the five aerodynamic improvements described in this paper were designed and have been implemented. The improvements to the Golden Gate Bridge, the fifth, have been designed and are expected to be installed soon.