Cable Stay Tension Monitoring

Structural cables (cable-stayed bridges, suspension bridges, suspended roofs) are complex civil engineering structures in which the stay cable system is a vital structural element. To achieve their design service life, stay cables require regular monitoring in addition to detailed inspections following certain events, such as strong winds, earthquakes, accidental impacts etc. The use of tension monitoring can reduce the need for time consuming individual cable stay monitoring/inspections by providing asset owners with continuous tension data that can be used to warn them of any under or over tensioning instances.

For long-span cable bridges, it is particularly important to monitor cable tension when the bridge is in use and subject to traffic loading. A cable stay tension monitoring system facilitates the safe operation of the bridge and can reduce both the cost of maintenance and disruption due to traffic closures by alerting bridge operators to any potential issues with cable stay over/under tensioning, allowing targeted remedial action to be taken before it becomes a safety concern.

LCM Systems provide a wide range of tension monitoring solutions that include tension load cells, load links and load shackles. These can be installed in the anchor block or cable stay load path to provide continuous load monitoring. Instrumentation and displays can also be provided with alarms that are triggered when pre-set over or under tensioning limits are detected.