Editing Tsing Ma Bridge (section)

=== Wind tunnel testing ===
The objectives of the [[wind tunnel]] studies were to demonstrate the safety of the structure under construction and once completed, both with respect to [[aerodynamic]] [[flight dynamics|stability]] as well as the possible effects of extreme typhoon wind speeds. A further objective was to provide dynamic response data at several key locations to compare with full scale data from the ongoing monitoring program, conducted by the [[Highways Department]] of Hong Kong.

A 1 to 80 scale section model of the deck in the erection stage, and a 1 to 400 scale full aeroelastic model of the entire bridge were constructed. It is a [[Monte Carlo method|Monte-Carlo]] simulation of the typhoon wind climate. The full model was tested in different stages of construction in turbulent boundary layer flow, complete with the local [[topography]] to model the wind conditions at the site. The model tests identified critical stages of erection that allowed the construction schedule of the bridge to be tailored to avoid the typhoon season. The comparison of model test results and the full scale monitoring will assist engineers to better understand the behaviour of long span bridges in wind and to improve current design methods.