Middle Pylon Safety Assessment for Three-Pylon Suspension Bridge

Compared to the traditional suspension bridges with only one main span, there are much more problems for three-pylon suspension bridges due to the live loads which need to be pay attention to. For example, deflection of bridge spans, cable slip at the middle pylon’s cable saddle. These kinds of problem have been recognized as the key points for design, however, at present, the research which can either clarify the structural characteristics or evaluate their performance is very poor, especially the latter. This paper studies on the mechanism and gives three safety assessment methods of anti-sliding performance between the main cable and the saddle of three-tower suspension bridge. The example of the Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge highlights the use of these methods.