#3048: Suspension Bridge

[In one panel two different designs of suspension bridges are shown in cross section one above the other.]

[At the top a normal suspension bridge is drawn. It spans a water way with two towers about a quarter of the way from the banks on either side. The distance from the road part of the bridge to the water is about a third of the total distance from the bridge to the bottom of the water. The suspension cables goes above the straight road up to the top of the towers in a curve and almost down to the road in between the towers. Vertical suspenders (cables) hangs down from the suspension cables holding the road in place (8 on either side and 17 between the towers). On the road there are ten vehicles going either way, evenly spread out across the part of the bridge that are over water. There is a large truck, a smaller truck, a van and then 7 regular cars. Above the drawing is a caption:]

Traditional suspension bridge:

[Beneath this a different version of a suspension bridge is drawn. It spans the same water way, and also has the same two towers. But here ends the similarities. Instead of suspension cables holding a straight road, the road is now build in the same curve that the cables had in the first drawing. So the cars need to drive up to the top of the towers along a curves road and then down again in the middle between the towers. There are thus no cables of any kind. And no straight road at a fixed height above the water. On this hilly road there are also ten vehicles going either way. To the left three regular cars are driving up the steep incline toward the left tower. A fourth car has just past over the top, and a dotted line behind it indicates that it is flying above the road after having speed over the top. In the middle of the road between the towers where it is closest to the water, there is a large truck also going towards the right. The road is clearly bending under the weight of the truck. Near the top of the right tower another regular car is driving up the incline. Just above it near the top of the right tower another car has made a large jump out from the top of the tower going left, a dotted line indicating a quite high jump taking it a couple of car heights above the top of the tower. On the right side of the tower, two cars (one very small) drives left up towards the tower and behind them a final car drives down towards the right bank. There are three labels. The first is beneath the first section of the bridge to the left, where three arrows points to the underside of the road with the label beneath these arrows. The second is just right of the left tower where a double arrow indicate the height of the road above the water. An arrow point up to this arrow from the label that are written down in the water. Near the right tower, in the same spot as the double arrow is near the left tower, there is a sail boat with a high sail that can pass under the road near the tower, where the road is higher up than in the middle (or all the way in the normal version drawn above). The third label is written above the right tower, where an arrow points from the label to the dotted line of the car that makes the high jump from the top of the tower. Above the drawing is a caption:]

Improved suspension bridge:

[Label 1:] Less cable

[Label 2:] More clearance

[Label 3:] Fun jumps