Structural Evaluation and Strengthening of a Reinforced Concrete Bridge
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 9, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper deals with the structural evaluation and strengthening of a reinforced concrete bridge over the Arno River in Italy. In 1996 truckload tests and finite-element calculations were performed to assess the bridge condition. The structure was found to be inadequate to bear both the first- and the second-class road loads prescribed by the Italian Bridge Recommendations. The choice of its demolition and reconstruction was rejected, however, since it was too expensive and required a lot of time as well as dramatic inconveniences for the traffic and the road network. So a strengthening design was developed to upgrade the structure to a first-class bridge. The restoration work was performed from September 1999 to September 2000 and dealt with the main structural elements. After the completion of the work, the flexural stiffness was about 20% greater than that in the old structure, and the flexural strength at the midspan of the interior span was 70% greater.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Cardinale, G., Orlando, M., and Spinelli, P. (2001). “Strengthening and repair works of a R.C. bridge over Arno River.” Proc., 9th Int. Conf. on Structural Faults and Repair—SF&R-2001 (CD-ROM), Commonwealth Institute, London.
Cardinale, G., Spinelli, P., and Bavetta, F. (1997). “Reinforced concrete bridge over Arno River: Structural identification and repair.” Proc., 7th Int. Conf. on Structural Faults and Repair-97, Univ. of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, 129–134.
Ministry of Public Works. (1990). Standard specifications for design, construction and load testing of road bridges, Rome (in Italian).
Miyamoto, A., Tei, K., Nakamura, H., and Bull, J. W.(2000). “Behavior of prestressed beam strengthened with external tendons.” J. Bridge Eng., 126(9), 1033–1044.
Pisani, M. A.(1999). “Strengthening by means of external prestressing.” J. Bridge Eng., 4(2), 131–135.
Wilson, E. L., and Habibullah, A. (1999). SAP2000: Structural analysis program, Computers and Structures, Inc., Berkeley, Calif.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 9 • Issue 1 • January 2004
Pages: 35 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 11, 2001
Accepted: Apr 23, 2003
Published online: Dec 15, 2003
Published in print: Jan 2004
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.