Talk:Dames Point Bridge

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[edit] Cable Arrangement

In 2004 the statement was added

The main span is 1300 feet, and is 175 feet high. With a total length of 2 miles, it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the United States. It is the only bridge in the United States to feature the harp (parallel) stay arrangement on two vertical planes, a design which rivals suspension bridges for strength and beauty.

First, The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge now has a longer total length. So this statement should be removed.

Second, I believe I would describe the cable arrangement as "modified harp". Harp arrangement means that all cables are parallel. If you zoom in on this picture, you will see at the tower top that the cables come up from the deck and anchor into the tower as horizontal pairs. What you don't see is that cables from the main span come up and anchor in the tower as vertical pairs, centered between the horizontal pair (I have seen this driving across the bridge). This means that each pair of cables is only nearly parallel, making it a modified harp design..

The importance of this can be understood in how the cables are stressed (or tightened). By having the back span cables and main span cables anchor in the tower in different planes, which wi what the above writer was describing, there is less total room required in the tower during construction/maintenance.

Third, the statement that the design matches the "beauty" of suspension bridges is not a neutral point of view. This should be deleted also.

I am going to make thes changes, but wanted to leave comments for discussion - SCgatorFan 03:25, 25 April 2007 (UTC)