ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The ability to provide a secure environment in the bridge community today is a daunting task being undertaken by many engineers worldwide. One of the key structural components identified in long span bridges is the steel cable assembly. The paper focuses on identifying the vulnerability of the cable assembly in the event of an accident, disaster, or attack. The paper describes the response of traditional and experimental cable assemblies to moderate and extreme heat. The results from high temperature testing performed on mock cable assemblies under load in controlled test environments will be discussed in this paper. The paper also looks at new practices being developed in the wire rope industry to increase the security and functionality of cable assemblies currently used in vertical lift bridges. New high performance materials have been shown to drastically increase the functional operating temperature of the cable assemblies without affecting the mechanical properties of the wire rope. The paper will also discuss the theoretical and experimental work regarding the operating mechanisms of wire rope held in conventional tapered sockets.
