Egypt sets new record for world's widest cable-stayed bridge

To deal with congestion in the heart of Cairo, engineers came up with a novel solution: build a record-breaking bridge. Easing the traffic problems in Egypt’s capital, the Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Bridge is now the world’s widest cable-stayed bridge. The Tahya Misr Bridge was built as part of the Rod El-Farag Axis project, aiming to ease traffic problems in Egypt’s capital.

The record was officially achieved by The Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Co.), with the help of 4,000 engineers, technicians and workers. To achieve the record, engineers had to build something wider than the 65-m-wide Port Mann Bridge in Canada. This was achieved with the Tahya Misr measuring 67.3 m (220 ft 9.6 in).

Although they look similar at a glance, cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges are structurally very different. A suspension bridge is supported by a pair of gigantic cables that are anchored in concrete and steel blocks on either bank. These main cables are strung across the top of the bridge towers (the vertical supports), and secondary cables are then run straight down from them to the bridge deck. The forces exerted by the weight of the deck are transferred to the main cables, which then distribute it between the towers and the anchors.

The cables on a cable-stayed bridge, by contrast, run directly from the deck to the bridge towers. This requires the towers to be extremely strong and, because the cables aren’t pulling vertically, means the deck has to be sturdier as well. It simplifies the construction process, however, and can make for a stiffer bridge that can better withstand high winds.