Index / Cables / Steel Wire Rope
Cables
Steel Wire Rope
Bridge & elevator cable
Cold-drawn high-tensile wires laid helically into strands, then strands laid into a rope around a core. The double helix lets the rope bend over sheaves while still loading every wire near-axially — the geometry is what makes a 1 m diameter cable hold a Pacific-spanning suspension bridge.
Key specifications
Construction
6 × 19 · 6 × 36 · IWRC
Lay
Right Regular · Lang’s
Akashi Kaikyō main cable
Ø 1.122 m
First major use
Brooklyn Bridge · 1883
Sheet 009 · Plate 1 of 1 · 1:1 infographic
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