Itissaidthatnecessityisthemotherofallinvention.Ifthatisthecase,thentheneedforstriking,elegantcable-stayedbridgesthatcanspangreaterlengthsandbemoreeasilymaintainedoverthecourseoflongerliveshasyieldedasignificantnewinventionthatmaywellbenefitbridgedesignerstheworldover.Drivenbyadesiretopushthedesignofsingle-planecable-stayedbridgesbeyondtheircurrentlimits—bothinspanlengthandinaestheticappeal—whilestilldeliveringaneconomicsolutionthatiseasytoconstructandmaintain,FIGG,anengineeringfirmbasedinTallahassee,Florida,hascreatedanovelsystemforroutingstaycablesfromoneendofabridgedeck,throughthebridge’spylon,andthendowntotheotherendofthedeckinawaythatprecludesthepossibilityofcable-to-cableinteractions.Theinnovationhasbeenemployedontwonewbridges—theVeterans’GlassCitySkywayBridge,whichcarriesInterstate280acrosstheMaumeeRiverinToledo,Ohio(see“OhioDOTEndorsesDesignforMaumeeRiverCrossing,”CivilEngineering,September2000,page12),andthePenobscotNarrowsBridgeandObservatory,whichcarriesU.S.Route1overthePenobscotRiverinsoutheastern(“downeast”)Mainenearthecoastline(see“ObservatorytoCapMaineCrossing,”CivilEngineering,April2004,pages15–17).Thecradleoffersbenefitsbothduringconstructionandoverthelifeofthebridges.Mostimportantofall,itpermitstheuseofthelargestnumberofstrandswithinasinglestaycableintheworld:156,anincreaseofmorethan70percentoverthesecond-highestnumberknowntohavebeenusedintheUnitedStates.Italsomakesitpossibletoincreasethedistancebetweenstaycablesbyapproximately50percentwhenusedwithprecastdeltaframestofacilitateasingleplaneofstaycables,resultinginaestheticallysuperiordesigns.Thisisaccomplishedbyhavingallthestrandsparallelastheytravelfromtheanchorsatthedecklevelthroughthecradleinthepylonandbacktothedeck.Individualsleevepipeslocatedwithinthecradlesystemenableeachstrandtoactindependentlyofadjacentstrands.Thisalsopermitsthecablestobemuchlargerandtobespacedfartherapart,whichtranslatesintolongerspans.Furthermore,thecradlesystemlowersinitialcostsbyreducingtheamountofmaterialsandlabornee