This synthesis identifies and explains various inspection and maintenance techniques for bridge stay cable systems. It discusses both short- and long-term approaches. Topics covered included methods for inspections and assessments, including nondestructive testing and evaluation procedures; repair and retrofit; methods for control of cable vibrations, including rain–wind vibrations; stay cable fatigue and failure; effectiveness of various inspection and repair methods; limitations of available technologies; and trends and recommendations for future study. This synthesis effort was based on a comprehensive review of domestic and international literature on the inspection, repair, testing, and design of stay cable. On-line sources of information as well as engineering databases were examined. A questionnaire was distributed to all state and provincial departments of transportation in the United States and Canada to determine current state of the practice. Also, contacts were made with a number of knowledgeable individuals for information. Additional information was gathered from the examination of test reports and condition assessments from inspections of cable-stayed bridges, a review of a limited number of maintenance and inspection manuals for cablestayed bridges, and a patent search using the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database. The author, Habib Tabatabai, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, collected and synthesized the information and wrote the report. The members of the topic panel are acknowledged on the preceding page. This synthesis is an immediately useful document that records the practices that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its preparation. As progress in research and practice continues, new knowledge will be added to that now at hand. (Author/publisher) This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://www.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_syn_353.pdf
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