Hanger plates in suspended span bridges are briefly examined for in-plane bending. The hanger plates are designed as tension members; however, measurements indicate that bending occurs as well. This bending is produced by the relative rotation at the ends of the plate and is caused by the frictional bond between the hanger plate, pin, and girder web assembly. A finite-element model of the hanger plates indicates that a nonuniform stress distribution exists across the width of the plate at the pinhole. The maximum stress concentration factors were calculated to be 4.6 and 1.8 for 6.9 MPa (1 ksi) axial and bending stress, respectively. A fatigue strength analysis was conducted to determine the life of the hanger plates.(Author)