Seismic Assessment of a 14th-Century Stone Arch Bridge: Role of Soil–Structure Interaction
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 7
Abstract
The study investigates the seismic response of the Azzone Visconti Bridge, which is a fourteenth century stone arch bridge crossing the Adda River in northern Italy. Based on previous extensive three-dimensional (3D) geometric surveys and mechanical characterization of both the soil constituting the riverbed and the masonry constituting the piers, a detailed 3D finite-element (FE) model was built. On-site ambient vibration tests have allowed dynamic characterization of the bridge. A preliminary sensitivity analysis on soil–structure interaction (SSI) parameters pointed out the key role of this boundary condition in the fitting of the mode shapes and their frequencies. Fully nonlinear dynamic analysis including the SSI have highlighted the safety levels for the structure and for the foundations.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to the Municipality of Lecco and “Consorzio dell’Adda” for the precious historical and technical documents acquired with their help and to Arch. Chiara Rostagno (former official of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Superintendent of Fine Arts and Landscape) for the stimulating discussions and the appreciated suggestions on the historical material provided. The authors wish to thank the colleagues of GICARUS Laboratory in Polo Territoriale di Lecco, who provided the 3D CAD model of the bridge. The authors are also grateful to Dr. Pierfrancesco Cacciola, who provided the spectrum-compatible accelerograms, and to Professors Claudio di Prisco and Federico Perotti for their precious suggestions.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 7 • July 2019
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 25, 2018
Accepted: Feb 14, 2019
Published online: May 1, 2019
Published in print: Jul 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Oct 1, 2019
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