Based on the foregoing analysis, the following conclusions can be obtained: 1. From a viewpoint of seismic design, the same connection option should be selected for each tower-deck connection of a three-tower cable-stayed bridge. 2. The sliding connection is the best choice for earthquake resistance, if the displacement of deck is acceptable. If the displacement is beyond acceptance, an elastic connection is a compromising option between sliding connection and rigid connection. 3. With the increasing of elastic connection stiffness, the longitudinal displacements of deck and tower decrease obviously, shear forces and bending moments at the base section of towers increase obviously in the main. For the investigated bridge, a stiffness of 1.0e5 kN/m can be taken as a reference. 4. Two stiffening means for the central tower-long diagonal cables and intersecting cables can reduce the longitudinal displacements at the top of towers (especially the central tower) and deck, but the efficiency of the former is higher.
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