Which risk increases for ancient Inca suspension bridges after prolonged rainfall?

💡 Explanation

Prolonged moisture penetrates the plant fiber cables, initiating material creep because moisture weakens individual fibers, leading to gradual, permanent deformation and reduced tensile strength. Therefore cable creep accelerates; rather than stone failure or wind response, creep governs long-term cable integrity.

• Which outcome results when roadbed compaction fails under Roman roads?
• Which consequence arose when inaccurate sextant altitude measurements yielded imprecise lunar distances at sea?
• Which outcome immediately follows when compressive stress overcomes the shear strength within vertically stacked Inca stone masonry?
• Which effect complicates precise hour angle calculation using a medieval astrolabe at high latitudes?
• Which risk increases when a 18th-century navigator sights the sun using a sextant with a warped index mirror?
• Which long-term outcome became increasingly likely after Inca administrators relied primarily on quipu data?