Cables can be tightened up using a jack – which is a tube with clasps on each side. Each cable had at least one break in it where a jack could be installed. The clasps each held a bit of cable either side of the break. The jack can be adjusted to pull the ends closer together (to tighten the cable) or further apart (to loosen it), therefore altering the amount of force in the cable. If you look at the cables fanning out from the tower of my footbridge you’ll see that they have connector pieces – where the cables look briefly thicker than the rest of their length: those are the points at which
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