Contemplating and gathering
Suspension bridge
rural communityIndigenous territorynational parkcloud foresthiking route
A pedestrian bridge whose deck hangs from cables or ropes stretched between two banks, without intermediate supports. It sways a little as people walk across.
What it solves
It crosses rivers, canyons and ravines without touching the water or the forest below. In nature tourism it lets people walk at canopy height and look closely at what cannot be seen from the ground.
Today
Design the bridge with a high railing on both sides, side mesh and a slip-resistant deck that drains rain. Check cables and anchors with a fixed maintenance plan and limit how many people cross at once.
Common mistake
Neglecting maintenance of cables, planks and anchors until moisture and time weaken them without anyone noticing.
Tomorrow
With heavier rain, these light bridges keep communities connected that are cut off when the river rises. Checking cables and planks every year, with neighbors and local technicians, extends their life.
Where it comes from
- 1Quechua communities with Inca technique Andes of Peru, living Inca tradition
Rope bridges already crossed the Andes before the Spanish arrived, and the Q'eswachaka is still woven from grass every year. - 2Classic Maya Yaxchilán, Mexico, 7th century
It has been proposed that a suspension bridge crossed the Usumacinta River there, although the hypothesis is still debated. - 3Iya Valley Shikoku, Japan, of diffuse origin, in use
The main vine bridge is 45 m long and its vines are replaced every three years, now reinforced with steel cable. - 4Cabécar people Talamanca and Matina, Costa Rica, 21st century
New suspension bridges allow the Zent and Mono rivers to be crossed all year, including during the floods of the rainy season.
Masters
- John A. Roebling Brooklyn Bridge, New York, United States, 1883
He hung the deck from steel wire cables and reserved an elevated pedestrian promenade down the center, above the traffic. He teaches how cables work in tension to span great distances without intermediate supports.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Contemplating and gathering
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.