Maximum Flexibility for Cable Stayed Bridges: The DYNA® Link Anchor Box System
Modern cable stayed and extradosed bridges are often designed with saddles. The stay cables are
deviated at the pylon and anchored to the superstructure at both sides of the pylon.
There are two types of saddles for strand bundle stays:
Bundle saddle – the strand bundle is diverted in a curved tube and generally grouted in the
deviation area using a special grout. The curved saddle pipe is guided through an curved recess
pipe which is embedded into the concrete so that the strand bundle including saddle pipe can be
exchanged if necessary. Differential forces in the stays at both sides of the saddle are reliably
transferred via shear noses or ring nuts.
Saddles with individual tubes; also called Cradle – the strands are conducted in a multitude of
individual, curved recess tubes or individual holes. The saddle itself is embedded into the
concrete and cannot be replaced. However, individual strands can be replaced if necessary.
Differential forces are transferred by friction.
Both systems permit an economic design of the pylon because access shafts within the pylon can be
omitted and the pylon can have slender dimensions. Nevertheless, both alternatives entail a few
disadvantages:
Stay cable assembly requires simultaneous work cycles at both sides of the pylon when building
the superstructure, which usually results in longer cycle times for cantilever construction.
Strand assembly is complex because the strands have to be pulled across the saddle, and in
some systems, the PE coating of the strand needs to be removed at the saddle.
In some systems, differential forces are only transferred by friction so that the stay can slip over
the saddle in cases of extreme load.
The saddle structures have to undergo very complex and time-consuming qualification tests, and
minimum radii must be taken into consideration.
The exchange of individual strands is sometimes not possible or only feasible along the complete
length of the stay cable from one superstructure anchorage to the opposite anchorage.
Strand inspection in the critical deviation area is only possible by complex replacements.
Due to these disadvantages, deviation saddles for stay cables in road bridge construction have been
explicitly excluded in current regulations in some countries such as Germany.
As an alternative to conventional deviation saddles, DSI has developed a new system that includes the
advantages of saddles without the disadvantages detailed above. The new DYNA® Link System is based
on conventional steel anchor boxes in which stay cables are anchored inside the pylon in a steel anchor
box. This way, the horizontal forces of the stay cables are transferred by the anchor box. What is new
about the DYNA® Link Anchor Box System is that the stay cable anchorages are fitted at the outside of
the pylon so that the pylon does not need to be accessible. Consequently, the pylon design can be
economical and slender, and it can be accessed for inspection from the outside by industrial climbers or
via hoisting platforms.
The DYNA® Link Curved Anchor Box can be assessed in terms of bearing capacity, service ability and
fatigue in accordance with conventional steel construction standards and does not require any complex
tests. The anchor box can be adjusted to the respective structure, and there are no limitations in terms of
deviation radii or differential forces. It is even possible to only replace a single strand bundle on one side
of the pylon or to carry out the assembly of the stay cables as flexible as in the case of common stay
cables with anchorages at the inside of the pylon. The strand numbers on both sides of the pylon can
also differ, so that the strand bundles can be economically designed. As the strands are not deviated
across a saddle in the DYNA® Link Curved Anchor Box, there are no limitations in any national
regulations.
The DYNA® Link Curved Anchor Box System is being used for the first time at the Chao Praya River
Crossing Bridge in Bangkok, Thailand. The 96 Type DG-P 37 and DG-P 55 strand bundle stay cables
that are used for this extradosed bridge are anchored at a total of 48 DYNA® Link Anchor Boxes.
