Rhode-Barbarigos, Landolf-Giosef-AnastasiosBel Hadj Ali, NizarMotro, RenéSmith, I. F. C.2012-07-042012-07-042012-07-04201210.1260/0266-3511.27.2-3.81https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/83648Tensegrity structures are composed of cables and struts in a prestressed self-equilibrium. Although tensegrity first appeared in the 1950s, it is seldom used in civil engineering. This paper focuses on the design aspects of a deployable tensegrity-hollow-rope footbridge. Deployment is usually not a critical design case for traditional deployable structures. However, for tensegrity systems deployment may be critical due to the actuation required. In this paper, deployment is investigated in a general design framework. The influence of clustered (continuous) cables and spring elements in statics and dynamics is studied. Finally, actuation schemes are explored to identify cases where deployment becomes a critical design case. For this configuration, deployment is a critical design case when the structure has spring elements and continuous cables.TensegrityFootbridgeDesignStaticsDynamicsDeploymentActuationDynamic relaxationtext::journal::journal article::research article