Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF POLYTECHNIC-POLITEKNIK DERGISI, 2023 (ESCI)
Suspension bridges are located on the connection point of big cities. Therefore lightning protection is crucial for that kind of critical structures. Lightning strike not only can cause casualties, but also can destroy the bridge and other electro-mechanical systems. Due to this, lightning protection system design is highly critical. In this article, world's 7th biggest suspension bridge Osmangazi Bridge located in key control projection of Gebze-Izmir Highway between Izmit and Yalova cities are selected for case study calculations. The Lightning Protection System (LPS) has been examined as a whole system. Unlike similar studies, it has been shown that when the suspension bridge structure is used as the down conductor, the tower body with a smaller impedance than the external down conductor in terms of the same peak value and so lightning current will always prefer tower body as down conductor. In this study, unlike the examples in the literature, the lightning protection system in suspension bridges was examined as a whole system and the most reliable system for suspension bridges was proposed with the necessary calculations.