bridge wire

English

Etymology

From bridge +‎ wire.

Noun

bridge wire (plural bridge wires)

2. Alternative spelling of bridgewire (“pyrotechnic component”).
4. Wire for wire rope intended for bridge duty or similar heavy duty.

   Alternative form: bridgewire (rare in this sense)

   Hypernym: wire

   Coordinate term: piano wire

   • 1925, John A. Roebling's Sons Company, Construction of Parallel Wire Cables for Suspension Bridges: A Photographic and Textual Study of the Fabrication of Bridge Cables‎, John A. Roebling's Sons Company, page 6:

     The three most important differences between the Brooklyn Bridge and other suspension bridges built previously are:
     1st—Great increase in cable length. Including both side spans this bridge has a total length of 3455.5 feet suspended from the cables. The total length of each of the cables between center lines of anchorage pins is 3578.5 feet, making them the longest parallel wire cables ever fabricated for a suspension bridge, even to the present day.
     2nd—The Brooklyn Bridge marked the first use of steel as a material for bridge wire. All previous suspension bridge cables were fabricated from wire drawn from charcoal iron.
     3rd—Prior to this time, cables were fabricated from bright wire and depended upon oil, grease, and paint for protection against the elements. In the Brooklyn Bridge, however, the cables were fabricated from galvanized wire, thus bringing into use for the first time, zinc as a protective coating for suspension bridge cable wire.

   • 1982 [1931], Frank Woodward Skinner, editor, Roebling Cables for the Hudson River Bridge: Problems and Requirements, Research, Manufacture, Plant Installation, Cable Spinning Equipment, Cable Spinning Strand Adjustments, and Vital Roebling Developments‎, page 26:

     The bridge wire in the main cables of the Hudson River Bridge is of the same character as that used in all previous suspension bridges having Roebling cables, beginning with the Brooklyn Bridge […]

   • 2004, Ronald M. Mayrbaurl, Sante Camo, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Guidelines for Inspection and Strength Evaluation of Suspension Bridge Parallel-wire Cables‎, Transportation Research Board, page A-4:

     A.3 STRENGTH MODELS / A.3.1 Behavior of a Single Bridge Wire / The modern method of manufacturing bridge wire is to cold draw a carbon steel rod through successively smaller dies until the specified diameter and tensile strength are reached. The process imparts strength to the wire, along with an elongated grain structure.
     The typical stress-strain curve for new b is shown in Figure A.3.1-1. The data were taken from Roebling [2] and represent the average results of tests on 126 wires from the Bear Mountain Bridge. Failure occurs almost immediately after the ultimate strain is reached. New, corroded and cracked wires all follow the same curve.
     Any bridge wire subjected to a tensile test stretches elastically to the proportional limit. It doesn't exhibit a true yield point as the strain increases, but enters a strain-hardening range instead, immediately after the transition from elastic behavior. The stress continues to increase with the strain until the tensile strength is reached, at which point the wire necks down and fails, resulting in a reduction of area and a cup-and-cone fracture surface. There is no yield plateau as with milder steel materials. The strain at the tensile strength is the ultimate strain.
     Failure occurs almost immediately after the tensile strength and the ultimate strain are reached.

Related terms

• wire bridge

Anagrams

• wire bridge