A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers, from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is in contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the deck are suspended vertically from the main cable, anchored at both ends of the bridge and running between the towers. The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and shorter than suspension bridges. This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier, and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.
The Russky Bridge in Vladivostok has a central span of 1104 metres. It is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge.
Øresund Bridge from Malmö to Copenhagen in Sweden and Denmark
Chain-stayed bridge by the Renaissance polymath Fausto Veranzio, from 1595/1616. Prior to industrial manufacture of heavy wire rope (steel cable), suspended or stayed bridges were firstly constructed with linked rods (chain).
Abdoun Bridge, Amman, Jordan, example of an extradosed bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world.
The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge on the Dardanelles strait in Turkey, connecting Europe and Asia, is the longest suspension bridge in the world.
The double-decked George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to Bergen County, New Jersey, is the world's busiest suspension bridge, carrying 106 million vehicles annually.
Chushul Chakzam, one of Thangtong Gyalpo's chain bridges, in 1904
The wooden 1808 Burr Suspension Bridge in Schenectady, NY, USA, during demolition in 1871, showing wooden cables. Spans of 160, 190, 180 and 157 feet on 3 piers began to sag, and 4 supporting piers were added in 1833 making 8 spans.