A transportation system includes a first support tower, a second support tower, a suspension cable extending between the first and second support towers, and a tube defining an interior channel extending between the first and second support towers. A vehicle is configured to travel through the interior channel. A tension support member has a first end coupled to the suspension cable and a second end coupled to the first tube through an actuator. The tension support member exerts tension force to upwardly pull the first tube towards the suspension cable. The actuator adjusts the tension force when the vehicle travels through the interior channel under the tension support member to reduce deflection of the tube.

A transportation system includes a first support tower, a second support tower, a suspension cable extending between the first and second support towers, and a tube defining an interior channel extending between the first and second support towers. A vehicle is configured to travel through the interior channel. A tension support member has a first end coupled to the suspension cable and a second end coupled to the first tube through an actuator. The tension support member exerts tension force to upwardly pull the first tube towards the suspension cable. The actuator adjusts the tension force when the vehicle travels through the interior channel under the tension support member to reduce deflection of the tube.

A transportation system includes a first support tower, a second support tower, a suspension cable extending between the first and second support towers, and a tube defining an interior channel extending between the first and second support towers. A vehicle is configured to travel through the interior channel. A tension support member has a first end coupled to the suspension cable and a second end coupled to the first tube through an actuator. The tension support member exerts tension force to upwardly pull the first tube towards the suspension cable. The actuator adjusts the tension force when the vehicle travels through the interior channel under the tension support member to reduce deflection of the tube.

A transportation system includes a first support tower, a second support tower, a suspension cable extending between the first and second support towers, and a tube defining an interior channel extending between the first and second support towers. A vehicle is configured to travel through the interior channel. A tension support member has a first end coupled to the suspension cable and a second end coupled to the first tube through an actuator. The tension support member exerts tension force to upwardly pull the first tube towards the suspension cable. The actuator adjusts the tension force when the vehicle travels through the interior channel under the tension support member to reduce deflection of the tube.

A fire protection device for a structural cable is proposed including taught metal reinforcements (32) and having a first stretch (41), a second stretch (42) and a connection zone (40) of a collar (30) located between the first and second stretches. The fire protection device comprises a protective mat (34) surrounding the structural cable (16) in the first and second stretches (41, 42) and interrupted in the connection zone (40), and a thermally insulating ring (36) more rigid than the protective mat (34), arranged between the reinforcements (32) and the collar (30) in the connection zone (40) and cooperating with the protective mat in order to provide the reinforcements with a continuous thermal protection along the first stretch (41), of the connection zone (40) and of the second stretch (42).

A method of damping the vibrations of at least one pair of stay cables of a civil engineering structure, in which the stay cables of said pair are linked by a damper having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness.

A bridge and method of installing the bridge for spanning a hydrological surface feature. The bridge includes a deck spanning the hydrological surface feature, at least one tower, and a tensile support system connecting the deck with the tower under tension to provide a tensile force for supporting the deck. A density and surface area of the deck, and the tensile force provided by the tensile support system, are selected to facilitate flotation of the deck on the hydrological feature with a top surface of the deck at a selected elevation above a surface the hydrological surface feature while supporting a selected load and while the deck is supported by the tensile force.

A bridge and method of installing the bridge for spanning a hydrological surface feature. The bridge includes a deck spanning the hydrological surface feature, at least one tower, and a tensile support system connecting the deck with the tower under tension to provide a tensile force for supporting the deck. A density and surface area of the deck, and the tensile force provided by the tensile support system, are selected to facilitate flotation of the deck on the hydrological feature with a top surface of the deck at a selected elevation above a surface the hydrological surface feature while supporting a selected load and while the deck is supported by the tensile force.

A device (22) for damping vibrations in a cable (16) comprises an arm (25) oscillating about a pivot (26), a first damper (30) for damping the oscillations of the arm, a coupler (27) attached to the cable, a second, linear-travel damper (31) having an upper end connected to the coupler and a lower end connected to the arm, and a guide (28) for sliding the coupler with respect to the arm parallel to the travel of the second damper such that the movements of the cable that are transverse to the travel of the second damper are transmitted to the arm independently of the second damper.

An expansion joint bridging device which bridges an expansion joint between two construction work parts of a traversable construction work. The expansion joint is spanned by at least two crossbeams which are supported in a load-bearing manner on both construction work parts, wherein at least one of the load-bearing supports allows a displacement movement. An overload safety device comprises two supporting profiles at a distance from one another and supported on the crossbeams, and a fill profile bridging the gap between the support profiles. If a threshold value for the force that would effect the two support profiles to approach one another is exceeded, a fixing device releases the positional stabilization such that the two support profiles can be moved towards one another by displacing the fill profile upwards out of the gap.