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Why is a suspension bridge strong?
A suspension bridge is hung from two or more cables that are held up by towers.
See how a suspension bridge works.
The main parts of a suspension bridge, other than the roadway, are the towers, the cables and the cable anchorages. The roadway actually hangs from the cables. If the cables stopped at the tops of the towers, their own weight in addition to the weight of the roadway and that of the traffic would bend the tops of the towers toward each other. To stop this happening, the cables pass over the tops of the towers and are connected to concrete anchorages held in solid rock.
When might you build a suspension bridge?
A suspension bridge can stretch a long way. The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco stretches all the way across the bay.
A Famous Suspension Bridge
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