This paper presents two new schemes,the stay cables with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and steel composite section and the stay cables with CFRP and steel composite structure.In the former scheme,the CFRP core remains the superior performance of CFRP materials,and the steel coat can provide protection for the CFRP core and excellent anchorage performance is therefore achieved.The ratio of the CFRP section area to the whole section area is determined as the key design parameter.The latter scheme,a cost efficient design,in which the CFRP stay cables and steel stay cables are applied to a bridge’s different spans.The proper values of key parameters are proposed based on a parametric study by means of the analytical solutions and the feasibility of the proposed stay cables is theoretically proved.The proposed stay cable is an ideal alternative to the traditional steel stay cable.