
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers, from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is in contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the deck are suspended vertically from the main cable, anchored at both ends of the bridge and running between the towers. The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and shorter than suspension bridges. This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier, and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.

A cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge is a modern variation of the cable-stayed bridge. This design has been pioneered by the structural engineer Santiago Calatrava in 1992 with the Puente del Alamillo in Seville, Spain. In two of his designs the force distribution does not depend solely upon the cantilever action of the spar (pylon); the angle of the spar away from the bridge and the weight distribution in the spar serve to reduce the overturning forces applied to the footing of the spar. In contrast, in his swinging Puente de la Mujer design (2002), the spar reaches toward the cable supported deck and is counterbalanced by a structural tail. In the Assut de l'Or Bridge (2008), the curved backward pylon is back-stayed to concrete counterweights.

A side-spar cable-stayed bridge may be an otherwise conventional cable-stayed bridge but its cable support does not span the roadway, rather being cantilevered from one side. The Esplanade Riel illustrated is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This bridge is intended for pedestrian use only and has a restaurant in its base.

Wadi Abdoun Bridge is a bridge in Amman, Jordan. The only cable-stayed bridge in the country, it crosses the Wadi Abdoun. The building of the bridge commenced on 14 December 2002 and it was opened on 14 December 2006 and was built by Larsen & Toubro Limited, an Indian multinational company. It is part of Amman's Beltway project and links South Amman to the 4th Circle and Zahran Street.

The Samuel De Champlain Bridge, colloquially known as the Champlain Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge designby architect Poul Ove Jensen and built to replace the original Champlain Bridge over the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec between the Island of Montreal and the South Shore suburbs. The new span is located just north of the original Champlain Bridge, which is currently being demolished. The new bridge carries eight lanes of automobile traffic of the A-10, A-15, and A-20, with one lane in each direction dedicated for buses. It also includes a multi-use lane for cyclists and pedestrians. The central portion of the bridge deck, still under construction, will carry the South Shore branch of the forthcoming Réseau express métropolitain (REM) automated light rail system. At 60 metres (200 ft) wide, the new Champlain Bridge is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world that uses two planes of cables.
The Chords Bridge, also called the Bridge of Strings or Jerusalem Light Rail Bridge, is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge in Jerusalem, Israel. The structure was designed by the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava and is used by Jerusalem Light Rail's Red Line, which began service on August 19, 2011. Incorporated in the bridge is a glass-sided pedestrian bridge enabling pedestrians to cross from Kiryat Moshe to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. The bridge, which cost about $70 million, was inaugurated on June 25, 2008.

The Chow Chow Bridge was an early, wooden cable-stayed bridge crossing the Quinault River on the Quinault Indian Reservation near Taholah, Grays Harbor County, Washington. It was built for the first time in 1952 and finally removed in 1988. Frank Milward designed the bridge for Aloha Lumber Company.

Christchurch Bridge, originally known as the Reading Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge, is a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Thames at Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The bridge links the centre of Reading on the south bank with the cross-river suburb, and former village, of Caversham on the north bank. It crosses the river some 200 metres (660 ft) above Reading Bridge, and immediately downstream of Fry's Island.

The Farrisbrua is a major new road bridge crossing the Farris water just north of Larvik, Norway. The bridge is part of the expansion of the E18 motorway from the antiquated single carriageway to modern dual carriageway standards, enabling increased speeds and traffic volumes between the eastern and southern parts of the country. It was built between 2013 and 2018, to a cost of 718 million NOK.

Karnali Bridge, the asymmetric, single-tower, cable-stayed bridge is the second longest of its type in Nepal and was built by international collaboration. The bridge spans the Karnali River between the Kailali District and Bardiya District of western Nepal. The bridge was constructed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan and inaugurated after six years of its construction date by the late Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

The Luangwa Bridge is the only large bridge and the principal engineering challenge on Zambia's Great East Road, crossing the lower Luangwa River where it flows from the Luangwa Rift Valley into the Zambezi valley.

Macapagal Bridge is a steel cable-stayed bridge along Mayor Democrito D. Plaza II Avenue in Butuan, Agusan del Norte that crosses the Agusan River. It has a length of 908 m (2,979 ft), making it the longest bridge in Mindanao, and the second-longest cable-stayed bridge in the Philippines after the Marcelo Fernan Bridge that connects Cebu City and Mactan Island.

The Millennium Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Morača River, in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The Mohammed VI Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the valley of the Bouregreg River near Rabat in Morocco. It is named after the current king of Morocco.

Tsubasa Bridge, also known as Neak Loeung Bridge (ស្ពានអ្នកលឿង), links Kandal Province with the town of Neak Loeung, Prey Veng Province in Cambodia, on the heavily travelled Highway 1 between Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

The Niagara Clifton Bridge, also known as the first Falls View Suspension Bridge, was a suspension bridge over the Niagara River between Niagara Falls, New York and Clifton, Ontario. It was designed by Samuel Keefer, with construction starting in 1867. It was officially opened for traffic on January 2, 1869 and was destroyed in a storm on the night of January 9, 1889.

The Papineau-Leblanc Bridge was one of the first cable-stayed spans in North America. It is part of Quebec Autoroute 19 and is one of the connections between Laval and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, spanning Rivière des Prairies. It was fabricated from weathering steel and has an orthotropic deck. The freeway ends abruptly at the southern end of the bridge at the intersection of Henri Bourassa Boulevard, where Autoroute 19 follows Avenue Papineau down to Quebec Autoroute 40.

Puente La Amistad de Taiwán spans the Tempisque River, on National Route 18, in Guanacaste, northern Costa Rica. Although generally known as a cable-stayed bridge, it is really a hybrid bridge composed of a cable-stayed span and a pillar-supported bridge. The cable-stayed section has two spans of 170 and 90 metres, supported by an 80-metre-high pylon. The total length of the bridge is 780 metres with eight supporting pillars and the pylon. The bridge was completed in 2003.
The Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge is a concrete and steel cable-stayed bridge that spans the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal near St. Georges, Delaware. The bridge is located near a tolled section of Delaware Route 1 that runs parallel to the St. Georges Bridge carrying U.S. Route 13. In November 2006, the bridge was named after U.S. Senator William V. Roth, Jr., who not only lent his name to the Roth IRA, but was instrumental in securing federal funding to build the bridge. It is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and does not carry a toll, despite the location of a nearby toll plaza.