TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

FACULTY
OF
BUILT ENVIRONMENT

ACADEMIC YEAR 2021 /2022

BTAR2012
Structural Studies
Laboratory Report
Experiment No. 2
Group No. 2
Approved by:

Experiment No 1: Three Hinge Arch

Experiment No 2: Suspension Bridge

Experiment No 3: Portal Frame

13.1.2022

No. Name of Student Registration No. Marks

1 Chan Ruo Xuan 21WVR04249

2 Chong Jun Xiang 21WVR04252

3 Fong Chen Yung 21WVR04258

4 Lee Hen Yue 21WVR04265

5 Lim Hoong 21WVR04268

6 Yap Jia Liang 21WVR04287

Date of Laboratory Experiment : 18th February 2022

Date of Laboratory Report Submission :

1
 Tunku Abdul Rahman University College BTBE1022/BTAR2012/BTBE1082 –
Structural Studies Assessment Form

Name of Experiment : Suspension Bridge

Marking Criteria
Assessment Criteria Marks Allocated Marks
A. Group Work 0 1 2 3
i. Experiment Absent. Work is of Work is of Work is of /3
poor quality acceptable good quality,
and is below quality and thorough and
expectations. meets exceeds
expectations. expectations.
ii. Report Did not submit Poor layout of Basic layout Good layout /3
report. structured of structured of structured
report and report and report and
referencing referencing referencing
system. system. system.
B. Individual Work 0 1 2-3 4
i. Report Did not submit Poor layout of Basic layout Good layout /4
report. structured of structured of structured
report and report and report and
referencing referencing referencing
system. system. system.
Total /10

(For assessor’s use only)

Laboratory Experiment and Report

Assessment
No. Student’s Name Student’s Reg. No. Total Marks
Group Individual
1 Chan Ruo Xuan 21WVR04249 /6 /4 / 10

2 Chong Jun Xiang 21WVR04252 /6 /4 / 10

3 Fong Chen Yung 21WVR04258 /6 /4 / 10

4 Lee Hen Yue 21WVR04265 /6 /4 / 10

5 Lim Hoong 21WVR04268 /6 /4 / 10

6 Yap Jia Liang 21WVR04287 /6 /4 / 10

Note :
1. Experiment and report to be done in group. Individual assessment will be carried out at
discretion of lecturer.
2. Relevant information is to be filled up by the students in this mark sheet and submitted to lab
lecturer for assessment.

2
 SELF-DECLARATION FORM

I/ We confirm that I/ we had read and comply with all the terms and conditions of Tunku
Abdul Rahman University College’s plagiarism policy.

I/ We declare that this lab report is free from all forms of plagiarisms and is 100% original
done and derived by myself/ ourselves.

No. Name of Student Registration No. Signature

1 Chan Ruo Xuan 21WVR04249

2 Chong Jun Xiang 21WVR04252

3 Fong Chen Yung 21WVR04258

4 Lee Hen Yue 21WVR04265

5 Lim Hoong 21WVR04268

6 Yap Jia Liang 21WVR04287

3
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Cover Page Pg 1

Assessment Form Pg 2

Self-declaration Form Pg 3

Table of Content Pg 4

Title of Laboratory Experiment Pg 5

Objective(s) of The Experiment Pg 6

Equipment and Materials Used Pg 7

Procedure of Experiment Pg 8

Data Collection Pg 9~11

Individual Part (Chan Ruo Xuan) Pg 12~

Individual Part (Chong Jun Xiang) Pg

Individual Part (Fong Chen Yung) Pg

Individual Part (Lee Hen Yue) Pg

Individual Part (Lim Hoong) Pg

Individual Part (Yap Jia Liang) Pg

4
TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE FACULTY OF BUILT
ENVIRONMENT

BTAR2012 STRUCTURAL STUDIES

SUSPENSION BRIDGE
(Experiment No. 2)

5
 SUSPENSION BRIDGE (2-Hinged Stiffened Girder)

Objective:

To determine the maximum tension in the cable of a suspension bridge.

Theory:

Tmax = W * L *(√(16d2 + L2)) / (8 *d)

Where:

W is the magnitude of the uniformly distributed load in N/m

L is the span in meter
d is the dip in meter

6
Equipment and Materials used:

- Suspension bridge equipment

- A set of weights (thick steel rulers)

7
Procedure of Experiment:

1. The profile for the bridge that used to test were checked and the position of cables
where necessary were set as showed in Theory.
2. The two support piers were removed so that they are not in contact with the bridge
deck.
3. The digital display unit was switched on.
4. The cable stopper was checked in order to make sure that there is no gap in between
the stopper and the horizontal meter. The screw on the stopper was tightened to
prevent it slide during loading.
5. The load cell, where each of it occupies 1 channel of the display, was connected to the
digital display.
6. The initial reading of each load cell was recorded.
7. The uniformly distributed load was placed on the bridge deck and waited until the
reading from the digital display remain almost constant.
8. The magnitude of the uniformly distributed load and the reading of each of the load
cell was recorded.
9. The magnitude of the uniformly distributed load was increased and repeated the step 7
to 9.
10. The experiment was repeated again in order to obtain the average readings of the
measured values.

8
Data Collection:

Span of bridge, L = 1000mm Dip, d = 186.5mm

Tmax = W * L *(√(16d2 + L2)) / (8 *d)

Where:

W is the magnitude of the uniformly distributed load in N/m

L is the span in meter
d is the dip in meter

Data Collection, Test 1

Load, W Horizontal Thrust (N)

Left Pulley Right Pulley
Initial Value -0.02 0.01
10.6 N 8.68 8.70
11.0 N 9.08 9.10
11.6 N 9.46 9.49

Data Collection, Test 2

Load, W Horizontal Thrust (N)

Left Pulley Right Pulley
Initial Value -0.01 0.00
10.6 N 8.69 8.72
11.0 N 9.10 9.14
11.6 N 9.48 9.62

Table 1

Cable Tension At Support (N)

UDL, w
Left Pulley Right Pulley
(N/m)
Experimental Theoretical Experimental Theoretical
Initial Value -0.015 0.000 0.005 0.000

10.6 8.685 8.862 8.710 8.862

11.0 9.090 9.196 9.120 9.196

11.6 9.470 9.698 9.555 9.698

9
1. Using the data in Table 1, plot the graph of cable tension at the support against load
for the experimental and theoretical case.
2. Draw the best-fit curve to pass through the plotted points.

10
3. Calculate the percentage error between theoretical and experimental results.

Left Pulley:

丨Experimental value – Theoretical value丨

Percentage error = x 100%
Theoretical value

丨9.470 − 9.698丨
= x 100%
9.698

= 2.35%

Right Pulley:

丨Experimental value – Theoretical value丨

Percentage error = x 100%
Theoreetical value

丨9.555 − 9.698丨
= x 100%
9.698

= 1.47%

From the calculation above, it is found that the percentage error of the suspension
bridge equipment is fall between 1.47% and 2.35%.

11
Individual Background

Fong Chen Yung 21WVR04258

From the lab experiment, I have learned to demonstrate the characteristics of a simple bridge
and to examine the relationship between applied loads and the suspension cable tension.

Image 3.1 : Suspension Bridge Form Diagram

A suspension bridge is a type of bridge that carry the deck using suspension cables on vertical
suspenders. This type of bridge has cables suspended between towers, plus vertical suspender
cables that carry weight of the deck below. This arrangement allow the weight of the deck to
be carried upward. These loads are transferred both to the towers, which carry them by
vertical compression to the ground, and to the anchorages, which must resist the inward and
sometimes vertical pull of the cables.The main forces in suspension bridge are tension in the
main cables and compression in the pillars.

Image 3.2 : Suspension Bridge Form Diagram

12
The forces in the bridge cables can be broken into vertical and horizontal components.
Besides, if the bridge cables have a steeper slope at their ends, the cable tension will be
reduced in which it can reduce the cost of the cables to be used when building a suspension
bridge. But steeper cables means the bridge require higher support tower to carry the cables.

Image 3.3 : Akashi-Kaikyo or Pearl Bridge: Kobe-Naruto, Japan

In addition, thin tower may result to structure failure as there are a lot of load on the deck and
they would produce a lot of bending in those towers. In order to solve the bending forces, a
wide and sturdy tower can be used to resist the bending forces. Another method is to mirror
the ends of the main span, then the mirrored sections can be used as the approaches from the
adjacent land. Thus, the horizontal forces from the mirrored spans would balance and cancel
out the ones from the main span.

13
Individual Background

Lee Hen Yue 21WVR04265

A suspension bridge is a bridge with towers that hold overhead cables to support the roadway
by carrying the vertical loads through curved cable in tension. It has longer span and lighter
weight compares to the other bridges but it is the most expensive bridge to construct.

When building a bridge over a river or sea, it needs to consider more factors during the
construction and planning phases. The workers need to build foundations like caissons or
cofferdams, as a platform for the bridge to stand on. If the riverbeds or sea is unstable, the
workers will require to deepen the drive piles in order to achieve stability. Sometimes, if the
stretch of water is too wide, construction equipment like floating cranes will be used as they
allow the worker to work on top of sea areas.

After caissons are set under the sea, the towers or super-structures are introduced and placed
on top of them. They are mostly come in steel or concrete. Next will be the anchorages where
they are made from reinforced concrete with embedded steel eyebars to fasten the cables on
both end of the bridge. The cables of the bridge will be made from thousands of steel wire
spun together and covered to prevent corrosion. Lastly will be the deck like roadways paved
and furnished with electrical and lighting systems.

Image 4.1: Eyebars holding suspension bridge

14
 Image 4.2: Caissons

It is crucial to know the calculation in order to get the maximum tension that the suspension
bridge can hold onto. If the tension is greater than it can hold, it means that the cable is pulled
too much by the load, then it causes the cable to stretch more and when it reaches the limit of
its tensile strength, it breaks. So, by getting the correct amount, accident like that can be
avoid and provide safety to the users.

Image 4.3: Incident of Tacoma Narrow Bridge collapsed

15
Conclusion:

1. From the results above state the relationship between the cable tension at the support
and the applied load.
The larger the applied load, the larger the cable tension at the support.

2. State the probable source of error for this experiment.

Reading error may occur during the experiment. Thus the reading must be take within
the eye level to avoid reading error.

The probable source of error for this experiment will be most likely to be human error,
where the readings should start with 0 in order to get accurate results. Other than that,
the experiment was repeated twice to get the average results. The placement of the load
can affect the result for left and right pulley, where it should be placed exactly in the
middle so that there will be no extra forces act on each side.

References:
1. Petruzzello M. Suspension Bridge, Britannica, 2020.
https://www.britannica.com/technology/suspension-bridge, viewed on 21 February 2022.

2. BigRentz. How are Bridges Built? A Visual Guide, BigRentz Inc. 2022.
https://www.bigrentz.com/blog/how-are-bridges-built, viewed on 20th February 2022.

3. Morrissey M. How Bridges Work, HowStuffWorks, 2021.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/bridge6.htm, viewed on 20th February
2022.

5. Wei Wei Lin Suspension Bridge, 2017.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/suspension-bridges, viewed on 21
February 2022.

16