Discussion of maintenance strategies for a self-anchored suspension bridge's main cable

Suspension bridges' safety depends on persistence and safety of main cables since they are essentials for the bridges and extremely difficult to be replaced in bridges' service life time. Popular maintenance strategies for main cables were discussed in this article with an example of a self-anchored suspension bridge. The bridge has a main span of 280 m and two bridge towers. The superstructures are mixed girders. Each main cable is composed of 37 strands and each strand is made up of 91 twisted steel wires covered by zinc. The suspension bridge was opened to traffic in 2008. In 2016, the bridge was comprehensively inspected. The results, according to Code for Maintenance of Highway Bridge and Culverts (JTG H11-2004), revealed that the bridge needs to be repaired. Three maintenance strategies are introduced in this article. The mixture of wrapping belt protection and dehumidification system is proved the best strategy.