The present invention discloses a calculation method for the internal force and deformation response of the entire bridge when the lateral distributed live load acts on the main girder of a suspension bridge. First, based on the known dead load state of the suspension bridge, the independent basic unknowns representing the key geometric forms and internal force parameters of the entire bridge are determined. Then, the responses of the main cable, main girder, bridge
tower, and suspender are expressed in terms of the basic unknowns. Subsequently, according to the conditions of geometric compatibility, conservation of stress-free length,
force balance, etc., control equations equal in number to the basic unknowns are listed. Finally, the unknowns are solved by the method of nonlinear
programming, and the response of the entire bridge can be obtained. This method completely abandons the assumption in the traditional method that the suspenders are regarded as continuous membranes, and innovatively takes into account the effects of the following factors: longitudinal bending of the bridge
tower, torsion of the bridge
tower, elongation and inclination of the suspenders, longitudinal
rigid body displacement of the main girder, etc., which is more in line with the actual stress state of the suspension bridge. The physical meaning of this method is clear, and the results can be obtained by adjusting several key parameters, which is convenient and fast.