Practical Aspects of the Design and Construction of a Small Cable Roof Structure

Abstract

Cable roof structures have only become widespread in large span structures in the latter part of the twentieth century. However, they still represent a rela-tively new form of roof construction, especially as in the present case of a small span innovative structural solution. The contribution of this text to the structural engineering community lies in the increased interest in building simple cable roof structures. Since its completion in September 1996, this small cable roof structure has been recognized as an interesting architectural and structural example. The text describes aspects of the design and construc-tion of a small cable roof that was designed as a roof for an open-air theater stage for the city of Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. A cable network, in the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid surface, is anchored in a reinforced concrete edge ring. The projection of the ring's axis onto the ground plane is an ellipse. Workers with specialized training were employed in the various stages of the construction, which was completed in September 1996.