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My First Try
My first cable bridge design was built it out of PVC
plumbing pipe. It lasted a couple of years but eventually, the Kansas
wind took it's toll and it failed. I discovered that PVC is a poor structural
material and the bridge was cumbersome to assemble. My original design
probably would have held up better if we had used the tension wires, but
using them would have made the setup it even more difficult.
- All four legs on the bases were filled with Quikrete to provide stability.
- Bad Engineer! This corner creates a big time stress concentration
and the Tee fitting was not designed to take a bending load. Guess where
it broke?
- The cable looped around an aluminum tube that crossed over the course.
The fittings at the top of the post eventually broke also.
- My original design had tension wires from the end of the legs to the
top of the post. This would have relieved some of the bending at the
Tee, but it would have taken forever to assemble. Another example of
a good idea that makes a poor design.
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