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Structure and Infrastructure Engineering:

Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and
Performance
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Inspecting and repairing old bridges: experiences and

lessons
a
Pier Giorgio Malerba
a
Department of Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32,
Milan20133, Italy
Published online: 12 Mar 2013.

To cite this article: Pier Giorgio Malerba (2014) Inspecting and repairing old bridges: experiences and lessons, Structure
and Infrastructure Engineering: Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and Performance, 10:4, 443-470, DOI:
10.1080/15732479.2013.769010

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 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 2014
Vol. 10, No. 4, 443–470, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2013.769010

Inspecting and repairing old bridges: experiences and lessons

Pier Giorgio Malerba*
Department of Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy
(Received 9 August 2011; final version received 18 April 2012; accepted 18 January 2013; published online 12 March 2013)

The concept of life cycle applied to building structures is quite recent. In the past, constructions were built to be everlasting,
and the number of massive buildings and bridges still in service apparently confirms the soundness of this approach. When
reinforced concrete was introduced, new possibilities were open to engineers, in a time when the end of a structure’s life was
still considered as an extreme and very remote hypothesis. However, this belief was soon to be faced with the evidence of the
deterioration of the concrete surfaces and with the corrosion of steel bars and strands, so that the concept of durability had to
be introduced. It therefore became clear that the structures’ constructions have to be monitored and periodically maintained,
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so as to extend their service life as much as possible. This paper gives an account of studies and rehabilitation works carried
out on bridges located in the north of Italy, providing some remarks regarding the maintenance of structures of the past and
the design of structure for the future.
Keywords: bridges; maintenance; piles and piling; precast systems; rehabilitation, reclamation and renovation;
strengthening

Introduction reinforced concrete were carried out (Lambot, Hyatt,

Many bridges of Italian road and railway infrastructural
networks are now between 50 and 150 years old. The
structural typologies, the technologies and the materials
used for these bridges were very different from those used
today, and so were the traffic loads considered for the
structural checks. Although such bridges still provide
adequate functional and structural performances, never-
theless they require specific inspections and maintenance
operations, together with static and seismic adjustment
interventions.
In design practice, we used to refer to recurrence
intervals of centuries. For instance, in the European
countries, 200 years is the return period usually assumed
for floods. But, if we consider the real life of a structure,
how long do 200 years last? In fact, 200 years ago, the
material characteristics, the building technologies and the
theoretical know-how were very different from the
present ones. With regard to the materials, for instance,
the industrial process to produce cast iron was invented at
the end of eighteenth century (Cort and Wilkinson), while
a steel with modern characteristics was patented in the
middle of 1800 (Bessemer & Siemens and Martins). John
Roebling began producing wire ropes in Saxonburg in
1841.
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the birth
of new technologies, when the first experiments on
Coignet, Monier, Koenen). The formulation of the basic
criteria for reinforced concrete design (the steel works in
adherence with the concrete; concrete and steel form
together a system homogeneous on average) dates back to
1887, when the experimental studies and the remarks by
Wayss and Bauschinger were published. In 1902, Mörsch
(1902) published his famous book Der Eisenbetonbau. The
first experiments and applications of pre-stressed concrete
structures were proposed by Freyssinet (1950), who
patented his ‘Procédé de fabrication des pieces en béton
armé’ in 1928. In 1933– 1936, Abeles (1937) carried out
the first experiments on partially pre-stressed beams and
decks.
At the same time, the nineteenth century also gave us
the basis of the strength of materials and of the theory of
structures (Timoshenko, 1953). In particular, with the
growing use of steel in structures, more complete
investigations of various types of truss structure became
necessary, and the first methods to deal with statically
indeterminate structures were proposed. The great arch
and truss steel bridges such as those of Gustave Eiffel
(Garabit Bridge, 1880 – 1884; Maria Pia Bridge in Porto,
1877) and of Anghel Saligny (Danube crossing in
Cernavoda, 1885 –1890) date back to those times. The
first long-span reinforced concrete bridges appeared in the
first decades of the twentieth century, when Hennebique

*Email: malerba@stru.polimi.it
q 2013 Taylor & Francis
 444 P.G. Malerba
built the Ponte Risorgimento (Rome, 1911) and Freyssinet
the Saint Pierre du Vauvrai Bridge (1919). A comprehen-
sive history of that pioneer age can be found, for example,
in the books of Trojanović (1960) and Leonhardt (1982).
An epic history of the greatest cable-suspended bridges
and of their designers was written by Petroski (1996).
Dealing with old structures, we cannot avoid framing
them into the context of their time, before assuming any
sort of decision and/or choosing any sort of intervention.
The major aspects that must be taken into consideration
usually regard:
. Possible changes in the geomorphology of the
territory where the bridge is located. Topographic
surveys can detect if any settlements have occurred
both at a local and at a global scale due, for instance,
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to subsidence. Another issue is represented by the
riverbed geometry, both in plan and in the shape of
bathymetric conformation and its variations.
. Possible changes in the attitude of the bridge, made
evident by vertical irregularities of the road level, by
rotations of the piers, by excessive vertical
displacements of the deck or by abnormal horizontal
displacements of the bearing supports.
. Conservation or damaging states of the structural
elements (foundations, piers, deck) and of the
joints, the bearing supports and the devices
intended to drain the water from the deck.
All these issues concern environmental influences on
the bridge service life, the loads consisting of self-weight,
stream flow, debris loading and wind. The distortions may
be caused by settlements of the foundations of the piers
and of the abutments. But a bridge is primarily a
transportation link and hence many bridges modifications
are caused by new traffic needs. Moreover, one remains
struck by the strong differences among the traffic loads
given by present codes and those assumed at the time of
construction: for instance, 100 years ago, the load train for
road bridges was made of a row of 16 metric ton carts, 6 m
long, pulled by a team of four couples of horses, 10 m long
and (4 £ 1.4) ton heavy (13.5 kN/m). The maximum rail
bridge loads were 30 –60 kN/m. It must be remembered
that, in those times, the speed was also lower and that
usually only two lanes were sufficient. Hence, when
possible, an actual rehabilitation of an old bridge involves
a widening of the road platform and an intervention on
those structural elements that need to be strengthened in
order to carry the new loads.
With all these considerations in mind, this paper gives
an account of studies and rehabilitation works carried out
on a group of bridges located in the north of Italy and
belonging to the main typologies used in the years between
1850 and 1970. Parts of these bridges lie on the reach of
the Po River, which delimits the southern border of
Lombardia, while other bridges cross minor rivers. Recalls
will be made on the surveys and monitoring activities and
on the problems addressed during the rehabilitation works,
while synthetic descriptions of the main interventions on
the foundations, the body of the main structure and the
special devices will be given.
Bridges and environment: survey of a group of bridges
along the Po River
Despite the modern materials employed and the refined
techniques used in the design process, when compared to
the massive structures of the past, recent bridges appear to
be more sensitive to the injuries of time. This emerged
clearly from the surveys carried out on some bridges
crossing the river Po, which will be presented in the
following sections.
The Po basin
The Po is the main Italian river. It rises in the Western Alps
and flows to the Adriatic sea, 652 km away. Its
hydrographic basin is 74,970 km2 wide and receives 43
tributary rivers (of which, 22 are from the right riverside
and 21 from the left one), for a total length of 4500 km.
The total length of the embankments is 3564 km. It flows
across 7 regions (Valle d’Aosta, Piemonte, Liguria,
Lombardia, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Trentino Alto
Adige), 24 provinces and over 3000 municipalities.
With the exception of the upper reach, until the end of
the nineteenth century the crossing of the Po was carried
out through river ferries and floating bridges. Due to the
wide span of its main branch, traditional masonry and
stone arch bridges involved limited spans resting on a high
number of piers, having basements in an insidious and
wandering riverbed. The first long-span bridges appeared
with the diffusion of the steel-truss girders having an
isostatic Gerber scheme. Many of these road and rail
bridges, although after some reconstruction work, are still
operating.
After the Second World War, thanks to new materials
and new technologies, regarding both foundation works
and piers and decks, many new bridges were built, with a
wide use of pre-stressed reinforced concrete. The main
challenge during the design and erection phases was not
represented by the spans (usually 50 –70 m on average),
but by the interaction with severe fluvial hydraulics,
characterised by cyclic floods, which often overtopped the
embankments, invaded the floodplains and sometimes
upset countries and villages at the two sides of the river.
One has a fairly complete knowledge of the historical
floods of the Po River since a remote age. In particular, the
main floods of the last 100 years occurred in 1926, 1951,
1994 and 2000.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 445

A wide surveying campaign

Rectangular R.C. columns on

Hexagonal columns on piles
After the 2000 flood, the Compartment for the Lombardia

Pier and foundation

Circular piers on piles

Circular piers on piles
Circular piers on piles
region of the ANAS (Italian Agency for Roads) promoted

Double-blade piers
a campaign aimed to survey the state of the piers,

types
basements and foundations of the main bridges crossing

Masonry piers
Masonry piers
Masonry piers

Masonry piers
Pile/pier type

Pile/pier type

Pile/pier type
Pile/pier type
the Po and serving roads of national interest in the
Lombardia region. Such a campaign was meant to provide

piles
a first evaluation of the bridges state and to detect possible
critical conditions of the piers and foundations, paying
particular attention to hydraulics causes of instability, such
as erosion and scour. The bridge main characteristics are
listed in Table 1 and their locations are shown in Figure 1.

riverbed
Piers in

6
5
4
4
5
2
1
2
5
2
2
2
5

9
Surveying and monitoring
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Surveying and monitoring consisted of the following

12 þ 5 þ 3
floodplains

9þ3þ0
activities:

Piers in

3 þ 25
36 þ 6
. Preliminary examination of each bridge on the basis

15
10
5
1

0
0
0
9
1

3
of the documents (original drawings and reports)
available in the archives, examination of the results
of previous surveys and/or interventions carried out

the river (m)

on the bridge (widening of the main body and of the Length over

580.00
734.00
471.83
613.00
511.00
607.00
64.00
90.00
87.00
270.00
90.00
403.00
1250.00

1040.00
approaching viaducts, strengthening of piers and
abutments, strengthening of the foundations, repla-
cement of joints and bearing supports, maintenance
of the drainage systems); gathering of information
from the surveillance staffs.
Characteristics of some of the bridges examined in the paper (see Figure 1).

.
length (m)

General visual inspection, after which a short report

1205.38
1670.00
1137.21
613.00
511.00
1096.00
64.00
90.00
87.00
270.00
90.00
403.00
1250.00

1040.00
Total

and a booklet of pictures of the most significant

view and/or details, mainly regarding durability
aspects (surface state, clefts and cracks on
reinforced concrete and masonry elements; state of
the cover layer and of the reinforcement; state of the
construction

1964– 1966

painting on steel structures; joints and bearing

1929/1947
1908/1947
Year of

supports; parapets and accessories devices), were

, 1970
, 1970
, 1970
, 1970
, 1970
, 1970
1958
1967
1961

1961

prepared for each bridge. 1912

. Geometrical survey, with dimensional cross-checks
with the original drawings: when, in some cases,
these needed to be updated, the typical main
Pieve Porto Morone

elements of the bridge were re-drawn (plan,

San Benedetto Po

elevation and main sections). Detailed description

Casalmaggiore

Montecchio 1
Montecchio 2

of local damage states.

Place

.
Borgoforte

Montodine

Survey of the overall attitude of the bridge, with

Pontevico
Piacenza
Viadana

Ostiglia

Sarnico

respect to horizontal and vertical references; verti-

Becca
Breno

cality checks of the piers; levelling of the roadway;

installation of topographic datum points; detection of
slope discontinuities, reducing the travel comfort.
. Bathymetric survey, in order to draw the geometry of
Oglio
Oglio
Oglio
Oglio
Oglio
River

Serio

the riverbed, to detect possible scouring signals near

Po
Po
Po
Po
Po
Po

Po

Po

the piers and to achieve updated transversal and

longitudinal riverbed sections for the subsequent
Table 1.

hydraulic computations. These surveys were carried

10
11
12
13

14

out using a small boat. The position was determined

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 446 P.G. Malerba
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Figure 1. Position of the bridges listed in Table 1.
through a GPS system and the depth was measured
through echo soundings. On the basis of these data, the
riverbed geometry was modelled by means of a
software suitable to show plants with isohypses and
the main transversal and longitudinal sections needed
for the hydraulics computations.
. Underwater surveys, aimed to detect cracks or clefts
in the submerged parts of the piers, as well as traces of
erosions or scour holes at the piers basis. In some
cases, these surveys were quite difficult, due to the
water turbidity, the flow velocity and the presence of
debris on the riverbed. The information collected
through underwater surveys was summarised in short
reports, with a description of local damage states, in
pictures and videos for each examined pier.
. Vertical boreholes in the piers aimed to measure their
buried depth. Echo soundings are used to check the
actual depth of the piers above the piles.
. Geognostic boreholes, with the performance of
standard penetration tests (SPT) and cone penetration
tests (CPT) and collection of disturbed and undis-
turbed soil samples, later submitted to laboratory tests.
For those cases in which previous geognostic surveys
had been documented, the new ones were distributed
so as to achieve new or complementary data.
. Partial reports explaining and summarising the results
of the surveys.
The relative cost of each survey activity is shown in
Figure 2, while the mean cost of the surveys versus the
overall length of the bridges is shown in Figure 3.
Laboratory and office activities
The results of the laboratory tests carried out on the soil
samples were used to define the load-carrying capacity of
the original foundation systems, as well as to design the
strengthening works on the insufficient ones. The office
activities concerned hydraulic engineering and structural
assessments. A first team of engineers studied the general
situation of the riverbed and its past and recent evolution,
and checked the hydraulic compatibility according to the
recent code, delivered by the Basin Authority, the former
so-called Po Magistrate, originally established in Parma by
Eugenio Bonaparte in 1808. Such a compatibility requires
the compliance with the following conditions:
. The design flood discharge must be no less than that
assumed to define the limits of the expansion
riverbed.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
Figure 2. Cost distribution for different types of tests.
. The bridge must have a minimum hydrometric
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clearance (free distance between the level of the
design flood and level of the intrados of the bridge).
. The relative position of the bridge submerged
structures (piers and abutments) and the effects
provoked by the bridge interference must be taken
into account. Attention must be paid to the overflow
level and to the effects of flood debris.
. The bridge must be safe under a structural point of
view.
A second team of engineers checked the structures.
Starting from the results of the geometric survey, for each
bridge the self-weight and the weight of the permanent
loads have been computed. Such loads were combined
with the traffic and hydraulic loads in order to verify the
piers and the relative foundations. The hydraulic loads
taken into consideration were the ones corresponding to
the maximum flood discharge combined with the worst
scour conditions.
Finally, for each bridge a comprehensive report was
compiled. These reports summarised all the previous
items, gave a final assessment of the actual state of the
bridge and highlighted its possible critical faults. When the
Figure 3. Mean cost per meter of the surveys versus overall
length of the bridges.
447
safety of the structure was at stake, suitable suggestions for
urgent interventions were provided. Each bridge was
classified and given a priority level which implied
recommendation for ordinary or extraordinary mainten-
ance activities or, in the worst cases, for radical
strengthening works.
Main results drawn from the bridge inspection
Many useful suggestions can be derived from these
inspections and assessments.
Change in the trends of the flood regime
Floods are a common experience for the people who live at
the Po riversides. Now, comparing the recent surveys with
the historical data, it is possible to observe a rising trend of
the maximum flood levels and, in recent years, a higher
frequency of the flood events. According to the experts of
environmental hydraulics, such a phenomenon is mainly
due to anthropic factors, such as a progressive water-
proofing of the basins, due to urban and infrastructural
growing, the removal of expansion zones and the increase
of river reaches confined by embankments. Climate
changes may also have contributed to these effects.
Figure 4 shows the maximum hydrometric levels recorded
by the Piacenza measuring station (around location 6 in
Figure 1) during the last two centuries and confirm these
remarks. As a consequence, the Po Basin Authority (1999)
recently prescribed to widen the floodplains and to adopt
more restrictive rules for the use of soil near the rivers.
Another element which was confirmed is the depth of
the scour in the rapid transient phase as determined
according to the recent Po Basin Authority specifications,
which agree with the most widely recognised formulations
Figure 4. Maximum hydrometric levels registered at the
Piacenza gauging station in the last two centuries.
 448 P.G. Malerba

(Hamill, 1999). These values of scour depth appeared
quite higher than those assumed in the past (Figure 5a,b)
and strongly condition the load carrying capacity
computation of the foundations and of the piles. As
regards the body of the piers, it was not found in a bad
situation. Some masonry piers presented losses of mortar
among the masonry courses. Both masonry and reinforced
piles presented traces of collision with the small boats
and ships that sail on the middle and final reaches of the
river.
For the main bridges, the position and the orientation
of the piers with respect to the main flow were judged
correct. In some minor bridges, spanning over tributary
rivers, some cases of wrong foundation basement were
found (Figure 5c,d). An insufficient deepening of the
basement and an orientation causing the maximum
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interference obviously increase the erosion and the local
scour effects. Another general consideration regards the
soundness of our probabilistic design procedures, tuned to
values of return periods (100 – 200 years). The surveys of
the most recent bridges, for which it was possible to
compare the present riverbed profile with that of 30– 40
years ago, showed cases of strong riverbed changes, with
the movement of the main current from one alignment to
another and also with the growth of temporary islands
downward the old main current. The underwater surveys
reported that, even after a long time from the end of the
flood event, a systematic encumbrance of debris remained
at the basis and along the body of the piers. This is a
problem of ordinary maintenance. But, who is in charge of
the debris removal? Is it the river authority or the bridge
authority? More simply: who has to pay?

Figure 5. Scour effects and debris action on the piers in the riverbed: (a), (b) collapses caused by the scouring action in bridges crossing
river Po’s tributaries; (c), (d) effects of position, orientation with respect to the water flow and depth of the foundations in a small river;
(e), (f) multi-columns piers acting as grids in the formation of debris rafts.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
Foundation stability
The most critical checks regarded the carrying capacity of
the foundations. In many cases, these checks, in the
presence of both the heavier hydraulic loading conditions
and the scour hole, revealed the need of strengthening
interventions. This latter phenomenon is particularly
severe because the removal of soil at the basis of the
pier reduces the carrying capacity of the piers itself and/or
of the piles underneath them, and contemporarily increases
the surfaces exposed to flow forces.
Deck structures
Although the main aim of the campaign was surveying the
state of piers, basements and foundations, quick checks
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were carried out also on the upper structures. Some
masonry arches of the approaching bridges in the
floodplains showed cracks and clefts, mainly due to
foundation settlements. In general, such damages do not
have structural relevance. Reinforced and pre-stressed
concrete decks and structures, built in the years 1960–
1970, appeared in worse conditions, showing the usual
damage pattern: carbonated surfaces, spalling at the
corners of beams and columns and at the bottom of the
slabs, and bars at different level of corrosion. Local
damages due to an inefficient drainage system were very
frequent. Bearing supports and joints usually needed to be
removed and repaired or replaced by new ones.
Lessons and suggestions from the survey campaign
According to what was observed along the Po River and its
affluents, environmental changes, provoked by many
anthropic and climatic factors, are leading to a progressive
growth of the maximum flood levels and to a higher
frequency of the flood events. In this context, a first notice
regards the riverbed shapes (position and orientation of the
main stream and overall discharge), which may change
faster than the return periods of one or two centuries
usually assumed in the design practice.
A second remark concerns the serviceability of old
bridges, having masonry piers and caisson foundations,
and that of more recent ones, made of reinforces concrete
and resting on deep piles. It was observed that, with
respect to more recent piers, due to their shape and
proportions, old piers allow a better flow of solid debris
along the pier height, showing accumulation only at the
basis. The shapes of many modern piers tend to rake
branches, trees and any sort of solid debris, thus reducing
the flow section and increasing the drag force and the
vortex regime around the pier (Figure 5e,f). Moreover, the
old massive piers are less sensitive to surface erosion
actions and better fitted for strengthening interventions: in
fact, their wide body can be drilled and host integrative
449
piers helping the original foundations. In contrast, modern
piers present all the vulnerabilities of reinforced concrete
members and their repairing usually compels to work
around the original body, with all the problems posed by
the need to effectively link the new parts to the original
ones.
The needed repair intervention
Once the data acquired during the inspections and surveys
had been analysed, different repair interventions were set
up. These interventions were carried out on:
. the foundation systems (piers, basements and piles),
. the main structures of the bridges and
. their complementary or special devices.
Interventions on foundations
Nowadays, the need for an intervention on the foundations
arises mainly after their stability has been checked
according to new codes and regulations, which lead to
higher depths of the estimated scour holes and higher
values of the acting forces. This brings to refurbishing and
strengthening the original foundation systems in order to
obtain a suitable safety level. The strengthening interven-
tions are usually based on two contributions. The first one
consists of protecting the area surrounding the piers by
means of big bags containing massive stones. Such a work
stabilises the riverbed and leads to less severe expected
scour depths. The second intervention consists of
strengthening the pier basement. Usually, the strengthen-
ing is carried out in one of the following two ways:
. when the body of the pier is sufficiently compact
and massive, like in the case of masonry piers, new
piles are driven across the body itself;
. when this is not possible or when previous repairing
interventions occurred in the volume of the pier,
new piles are driven around the perimeter.
A common problem of both these type of interventions
is the accomplishment of a robust connection between new
parts and old structures. Examples of solutions for
different foundations problems are presented in the
following.
Strengthening of the foundations of a bridge of the
nineteenth century
The first stable crossing of the Adda River in Lodi dates
back to 1158, when Frederick I Redbeard authorised the
building of a bridge north-east of the city. The builder was
Muzio della Gatta and, thanks to this new link, Lodi
became one of the most prosperous cities of the hinterland
 450 P.G. Malerba
of Milan. In the following centuries, more bridges were
erected and later destroyed. We have to notice that on 10
May 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte, fighting against the
Austrian army, crossed in Lodi with a wooden bridge
made of 57 spans and 200 m long. In 1859, during the
Second Italian Independence War, this bridge was burnt.
In the years 1863 –1864, the Milanese architect Gualini
built the present masonry bridge, made of nine shallow
arches spanning 18.90 m each, for a total length of 175 m
(Figure 6).
In 1970 –1971, the deck of the Lodi Bridge was
refurbished in order to comply with the new traffic loads,
and a weir was built 200 m downstream in order to protect
the basement of the bridge. In the following years, the weir
caused some floods involving the town riverside. This
brought, after new hydraulic assessments carried out in
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2006, the decision of lowering the weir. This lowering,
which is scheduled for the summer of 2010, will increase
the flow velocity and therefore expose the foundations to
more severe service conditions. Thus, a geotechnical
assessment, based on laboratory tests on soil samples, and
a structural assessment were carried out, in order to
ascertain whether the bridge would sustain such worsen-
ing. These assessments found that the bridge was not safe
even before the change in the hydraulic regime, and
needed strenghtening works in any case.
This choice was confirmed also by the presence of some
foundation settlements already observed in the past. In fact,
in 1947, each foundation was strengthened by driving
(9 þ 9) piles along its sides, at a depth of 12 m from the
bottom of the basement, plus 2 m long (16 þ 16) auxiliary
piles. At the front and at the rear of the basement, (11 þ 11)
short piles, 5 m long, completed a continuous curtain,
protecting the basement against the erosion and scour. The
heads of the piles were connected to the existing structure
by means of a hooping crown made of concrete, cast around
the pile perimeter, stitched along the sides through ties of
Figure 6. The Lodi Bridge (1863 – 1864).
ordinary steel. The soil, confined by the continuous curtain,
was then injected by cement mortar.
The new intervention substantially recalls the old one.
Twenty new micropiles, having a diameter of 0.20 m and
24.70 m long, were drilled alternatively at a ^ 58 angle
along the sides of the basement (Figures 7 and 8). The
micropiles were reinforced by valved steel tubes having a
diameter of 127 mm and a thickness of 10 mm (Figure 8).
Their position was defined so as not to interfere with the
old piles. The old concrete crown was demolished step by
step, caring not to cut the reinforcing bars. The demolition
was accompanied by the contemporary reconstruction of
reaches of the new, wider crown. Twenty horizontal
threaded bars, having a diameter of 32 mm, passing across
the pile body and placed at two different levels (Figures 7
and 9), strongly connect the two opposite sides of the
crown. Figure 10 shows an intermediate phase of the
works. During the strenghtening works, the bridge was
periodically checked by means of topographical surveys,
to detect possible displacements.
Strengthening of foundations of piers eroded at their
basis: the Piacenza Bridge
The second intervention concerns the masonry piers of the
Piacenza Bridge, across the Po River, shown in Figure 11.
The bridge was opened in 1908 and identically rebuilt after
a bombardment during the Second World War. The bridge
is 1097 m long. The central reach, 607 m long, is made of
eight steel trusses spanning 75.25 m and supported by
masonry piers. Figure 12 shows piers Nos. 1 and 2. Such
piers are placed in correspondence of the low water channel,
which is about 160 m wide and is concentrated in only one
branch. The bathymetry in that zone is quite irregular, and
shows marked variations in the riverbed depth. In fact,
about 20 m upstream of the bridge, a groin, protruded
towards the river, conveys the flow against pier No. 1,
which was found surrounded by the big hole shown in
Figure 12. The force intensities and the scour depth, as well
as the estimated load-bearing capacity of the foundations,
suggested strong interventions on piers Nos. 1 and 2, and
less extensive, though still heavy, interventions on the
remaining five piers and on the abutments.
The intervention on pier No. 1 first consisted of the
river bed stabilisation: the hole around the pier was filled
by means of fibre bags filled with sand, having a volume of
2 m3 each, over which a 2-m thick layer of stone riprap,
having characteristic diameter of 0.70 m, was deployed. In
the oval area immediately around the pier, the riprap
diameter was increased to 1.05 m. The total volume
deployed around pier No. 1 was 14,125 m3.
The original foundations had already been strength-
ened after the 1994 flood, when the soil characteristics
were improved by means of jet grout columns, reinforced
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 451
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Figure 7. The Lodi Bridge: transversal section showing the new deck, made of precast pre-stressed beams, the position of the new piles
and that of the threaded connecting bars.

by steel valved tubes, reaching a depth of 12 m under the
foundation basement. The intervention designed after the
surveying campaign and shown in Figures 13 and 14
consists of creating a crown made of 33 micropiles placed
around the pier body. The volume inside the body was
already occupied by the previous jet grouting works. The
micropiles have a diameter of 0.40 m and are reinforced by
valved steel tubes of diameter 127 mm and thickness
14.2 mm. The valves have a pitch of 0.50 m in the first
20 m and of 0.30 m for the remaining length of 1.50 m. The
piles were driven to a depth of 22.5 m under the riverbed
level; this means a distance of 15 m from the bottom of the
original basement. The total length of the new piles is
33.85 m. The set of micropiles was protected by a sheet
pile driven to a depth of 12 m under the estimated scour
depth (Figure 14). The volume between the sheet piles and
the pier was then filled by concrete. Special attention was
paid to linking the added foundation elements to the main
body of the piers and making the two parts cooperating in
carrying any added load, as shown in Figures 13 and 14.
Strengthening of foundations subjected to settlement
movements: the San Benedetto Po Bridge
The San Benedetto Po Bridge underwent strenghtening
interventions both on the foundations (Figures 15, 16 and
17) and on the deck (Figures 18). The foundations suffered
from settlements, which caused relative displacements and
 452 P.G. Malerba

Figure 9. The Lodi Bridge: details of the R.C. hooping crown.

. casting of new transverses between the couples of

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blades of the original piers;

. pre-stressing of the transverses, obtained by means
of short cables (Figure 17) passing across the blades
so as to create a connection frame;
. placement of four 2500 kN hydraulic jacks in the
niches left between the transverses and the piles
(Figure 17), in order to force the two parts against
each other;
. locking of the heads of the piles against the
connection frame by using a steel spacer;
. removal of the jacks and casting of the niches.
In this way, the new piles were forced to cooperate
with the pre-existing structure for new added loads.

Strengthening of excessively slender piers: the

Borgoforte Bridge
In the Borgoforte Bridge, it was necessary to intervene on
three piers which showed excessive slenderness, vibration

Figure 8. The Lodi Bridge: arrangement of the micropiles at the

two sides of a pier.

rotations between adjacent piers. The intervention

regarded four double-blade piers and consisted of the
following phases:

. driving of four new piles inside the perimeter

defined by the eight piles already existing Figure 10. The Lodi Bridge: photograph of an intermediate
(Figure 17); phase of the works in 2010.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 453

Figure 11. The Piacenza Bridge (1908/1947): detail of the longitudinal view of the bridge, showing piers 1 and 2.

sensitivity and unsafe foundation conditions (Figures 19
and 20). The intervention consisted of adding two new
pairs of piles upstream and downstream (Figure 20) and
connecting them, by means of an arch-shaped frame, to the
original pier assembly (Figure 21).
Main structures of the bridges
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. refurbishment and adjustment of the structure to
new codes prescriptions, involving, for instance,
heavier load conditions;
. changes in geometry, due to the need of widening
the road platform.
In the following subsections, the cases of refurbish-
ment regarding three different types of arch bridges and of
a pre-stressed cantilever bridge are examined.

The interventions needed on the main structures of a

bridge may be summarised as follows:

. strengthening of the carrying structure due to some
lack in their load-bearing capacity, caused, for
instance, by settlement effects, or by corrosion of
the reinforcing bars or the pre-stressing steel in
critical sections;
Strengthening of a deck by means of a new hidden
structure: the Lodi Bridge
In 1970– 1971, the Lodi Bridge, described in a previous
paragraph with reference to the strengthening of the
foundations, underwent a refurbishment aimed to adapt the

Figure 12. The Piacenza Bridge: the bathymetry, showing the holes in correspondence of piers 1 and 2.
 454 P.G. Malerba
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Figure 13. The Piacenza Bridge: details of the connection between the pier and the new micropiles.
deck to the new traffic loads. In this case, the adaptation of
the original structure, made of nine shallow masonry
arches, to the new static requirements appeared a hard
task. The solution adopted by Professor Martinez y
Cabrera was a compromise between the necessity to obtain
a crossing suitable to deal with the intensity of new traffic
loads and to respect the original masonry structure, dating
back to the nineteenth century and subjected to the
supervision of the Local Department for the Preservation
of Historical Buildings.
The body of the nine arches was emptied of the
infilling material and the masonry structure was cleaned
and restored. In correspondence with the masonry piers
axes, new R.C. walls were cast. These walls, parallel to the
long sides of the piers and connected to their original
structures, were built in order to elevate the base for new
bearing support. Then, inside the free volume of the empty
masonry body, a new carrying structure, made up of eight
prefabricated pre-stressed concrete beams, was inserted
(Figure 7) and then made continuous by the casting of the
upper slab. It must be outlined that the new deck is slightly
higher with respect to the old structure. With the exception
of zones around the supports, the space existing between
the original structure and the new carrying structure makes
them totally independent. This also allowed to widen the
lateral sidewalks.
The railway bridge across the Gaggione River
The structure
The railway bridge across the Gaggione River was built at
the end of the nineteenth century and connects the city of
Milan to the city of Varese, 60 km away. The bridge,
shown in Figure 22(a), has a total length of 130 m and is
made of a sequence of seven stone barrel arches, which
rest on six stone piers. The barrel arches have internal
radius of 5.82 m and their centres are 14.00 m apart. The
piers are slightly tapered: the longest one, 32.60 m high,
has a section that varies from 10.00 m (width) by 5.50 m
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 455
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Figure 14. The Piacenza Bridge: details of the anchorage; horizontal section of a pier, showing the concrete infilling between the sheet
piles and the old pier; photograph showing the completed intervention.

(front) at the bottom to 4.50 m by 2.50 m at the top. The
free height of the piers is interrupted by an intermediate
service deck made of five shallow arches.
In 1985 –1986, the bridge was strengthened in order to
carry new, heavier train loads. The main interventions
regarded the basements of the central piers, the node at the
intersection between the piers and the intermediate deck,
and the strengthening of the intrados and spandrels of the
arches. The intrados and spandrels were enveloped in a
layer of shot concrete, 180 mm thick, and reinforced with
14 mm bars arranged so as to form a mesh with a pitch of
200 mm both ways. After a strong hydro-sand blasting in
order to improve the chemical –mechanical adherence, the
added layers were linked to the stone surfaces through a

Figure 15. The San Benedetto Bridge (1964 – 1966). The completed intervention on the piles can be seen.
 456 P.G. Malerba

Figure 16. The San Benedetto Bridge: longitudinal view of the bridge. The area where the intervention on the foundations was carried
out is highlighted.

uniform curtain of pins and confined against the original thickness of the arch rib as a function of its span and of its
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walls through 22 mm threaded bars, piercing the body of
the arches. Other works regarded the river bed
stabilisation, obtained with the introduction of embank-
ments and weirs.
The problem
It is quite obvious that, considering this type of massive
bridges, any intervention which confines tightly the
masonry and, at the same time, does not add excessive
loads to the original structure leads to an increase in the
safety level. It is less immediate to define the actual static
scheme, which leads the forces at the basements, and how
old and new structures contribute to the overall bridge
robustness. Probably, the bridge was built following
empirical rules used in the past centuries to define the
rise. It is possible that some more refined study was carried
out through the Méry method, widely used in the past to
assess the arch stability.
Nowadays the arch is analysed according to elastic and
limit theories (Heyman, 1982; Strassner, 1927). However,
the arch is still considered the bearing structure, while the
superstructures (the walls and the filling up, made usually of
light non-cohesive material) are considered as dead loads.
But, why is it so common to see clefts around the arches
keystones and even, in some cases, the loss of central bricks?
The bridge behaviour
In December 1986, at the end of the strengthening works,
severe load tests were carried out on this bridge. It was
loaded by the locomotive shown in Figure 22(c) and by a

Figure 17. The San Benedetto Bridge: longitudinal and transversal sections showing the positions of the new transverses, the new piles
and the niche where the 2500 kN hydraulic jack were housed.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 457
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Figure 18. The San Benedetto Bridge: vertical and horizontal layout of the new external pre-stressing cables used in the strengthening of
the cantilevers in the floodplains.

convoy. Several load positions were examined. The
vertical displacements were measured through a set of
mechanical displacement transducers (6 upstream and 10
downstream), having a sensibility of 1/100 mm. These
gauges measured the relative displacements between the
bridge extrados and a rigid, simply supported, reference
beam. The reference beam supports were placed in
correspondence of the vertical axis of the piers (local
reference system). An electro-mechanical displacement
transducer measured the vertical displacements at the
crown with respect to the ground (absolute reference
system). At the intrados and at the lateral walls of the
central section, eight electromechanical strain gauges
(relative displacement transducers) were placed. Their
sensitivity was 1 mm over a basis of 300 mm ( 3.3 m1.
These gauges were placed as shown in Figure 22(b).
Figure 22(c) shows the displacements obtained with the
train in the central position.
The maximum vertical displacement given by the
transducer with respect to the absolute reference system
was vabs ¼ 0.560 mm. The corresponding displacement
with respect to the local reference system was vloc ¼
0.405 mm. The difference Dv ¼ 0.155 mm is mainly due
to the piers deformation. A finite element analysis (FEA)
with plane stress elements gave at the top of the piers vFEA
¼ 0.220 mm. The results shown in Figure 22(c) are
rectified with reference to the straight line that connects
the top of the piers, as computed from FEA analysis.
Figure 22(b) shows the vertical distribution of the
horizontal strains compared to the stratigraphy of the
section: the added reinforcement layer and the arch rib are
in tension; the spandrels above the arch top and the infill
material are compressed. A fairly good matching between
numerical and experimental data was reached. A
consequent comparison in term of stresses gave Ds ¼
(2 0.03) 4 (2 0.04) N/mm2 (FEA Ds ¼ 2 0.09 N/mm2)

Figure 19. The Borgoforte Bridge (1961): longitudinal view of the bridge.
 458 P.G. Malerba
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Figure 20. The Borgoforte Bridge: (a) transversal section showing the original pier/pile assembly; (b) transversal section showing the
two piles added at the sides of the existing ones and the arch-shaped frame; (c) longitudinal section after the completion of the
intervention.
at the top (transducer No. 5) and Ds ¼ 7.1 4 13.0 N/
mm2 (FEA Ds ¼ 5.46 N/mm2) at the bottom (transducers
No. 1, 6 and 7). Hence, during the service life and for the
applied loads, the crown of the bearing arch works in
tension and the superstructure in compression.
Analogous behaviour was found through an FEA for
the effects of self-weight. The theoretical final results of
the analysis (self-weight plus the weight of the E626
Figure 21. The Borgoforte Bridge: photograph taken after the
completion of the works.
locomotive) gave, for the most compressed fibre, s ¼
2 0.28 N/mm2, a relatively small value which can be
sustained also by a moderately compacted soil. These
assessments, which trust the cooperation with materials
that cannot be defined as structural in the strict sense of the
word (i.e. the filling of the spandrels), cannot be used for
safety evaluations. Safety derives from the certainty that
the evolution from the service to the ultimate state would
involve the crushing of the filling material, while the line
of the thrust lowers until it reaches the extrados of the
bearing arch, which finally works according to the usual
interpretation of its behaviour. For the sake of history, this
latter situation was checked also through the Méry
method. However, this experience provided many sugges-
tions for similar interventions.
The strengthening of the San Benedetto Po Bridge deck
In a previous section the San Benedetto Po has been
discussed with reference to the reinforcement of the
foundations. Now, for the same bridge, the strengthening
of the deck will be considered. The bridge characteristics
and the location are presented in Table 1 and Figure 1. The
bridge was built in the years 1964 –1966 by means of a
technology widely employed at that time, which used
cantilevers 28.5 m long, supporting 10.0-m long closing
suspended girders (Figure 16). The length between two
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 459
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Figure 22. The Gaggione Bridge (1885): (a) longitudinal view of the bridge; (b) transversal section after the strengthening, layout of the
relative displacement transducers and distribution of the strains in the depth of the section during the loading tests; (c) comparison
between theoretical and experimental vertical displacements.
 460
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Figure 23. (a) Effects of leakage in a lateral sidewalk; (b), (c) worn rubber covering, torn up bolts and permanent deformation in a joint
after a few years of service.
piers of a typical reach is 67.00 m. The road platform is
11.00 m wide, and it is subdivided into two 3.25 m wide
traffic lanes and in two 1.75 m wide sidewalks (Figure 17).
The piers are made of a couple of parallel reinforced
concrete blades, having adequate bearing capacity and a
flexural deformability suitable to allow the shortenings
and the elongations of the deck.
Since 1988, the bridge showed irregularities in the
roadway, rotations of the piers and excessive vertical
displacements. These anomalies were partly due to
settlement of the foundations and partly to a loss of pre-
stressing mainly deriving from the effects of creep and
shrinkage. In some cases, the deflections at the tip of the
pre-stressed cantilevers reached 100 mm. The bridge was
kept in service but traffic limitations were imposed. As
regards the intervention on the foundations, they were
described in a previous paragraph. In this paragraph, a
brief account will be given of the works carried out on the
deck. The aims of these works were:
. to recover part of the loss of pre-stressing;
. to compensate possible reductions of the cable
sections due to corrosion;
. to recover part of the permanent deflections.
Figure 18 shows the solution adopted for the reaches
on the floodplains, which, for each cantilever, involved:
P.G. Malerba
(1) the casting of three transverses that house the
anchorages of a new set of pre-stressing cables;
(2) the placement of external cables anchored in the new
transverses and placed as follows:
. No. 6 17.00 m long cables, placed inside the deck
boxes and astride the piers, which connect the
couple of transverses nearest to the piers;
. No. 2 41.00 m long cables, placed in the space
between the two deck boxes and astride the piers,
which connect the two intermediate transverses;
. No. 2 cables 53.00 m long placed as before, which
connect the two end transverses;
. No. 3 cables 17.00 m long placed in the space
between the two deck boxes and connecting the end
transverses to those nearest to the pier.
For the reaches over the river, all the cables were
placed inside the deck boxes. These works, together with
repair of the damaged R.C. parts, of the road platform and
of the water drainage systems, allowed the bridge to re-
open to the normal traffic service.
Auxiliary and special devices
The service life of a bridge is strongly influenced by the
regular functioning of all its different components, each
one intended to carry out a specific function. A special
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
Figure 24. Sketch of a hidden joint, suitable for short and
medium span bridges.
mention must be made to the water drainage system. It has
a relatively modest cost if compared to other parts of the
bridge, but it may cause severe damages. Leakages
through any points of weakness in the waterproofing
system or in the expansion joints may lead to significant
reductions of the structural safety. Figure 23(a) shows the
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intrados of a sidewalk of an old arch bridge (Cremeno
Bridge) before its repairing. Other vulnerable systems are
the expansion joints. Figure 23b,c shows the state of a
typical joint after few years of service (8 years in the case
of the photos): worn rubber covering, torn up bolts and
permanent deformations are clearly visible.
A cause of these drawbacks can be found in the
dynamic effects due to road platform discontinuities in
correspondence of the joints and to poor attention paid to
the details during the construction works. For short and
medium spans, when the horizontal excursions are limited,
a solution which strongly reduces these effects is shown in
Figure 24. The basic idea is quite simple: a steel
diaphragm, welded to one of the two edges of the joint, is
free to slide over the other edge. In this way, the gap
between the parts of the joint is protected, while the road
platform shows no discontinuities. Two small grooves at
the ends of the bituminous coating astride the joint will
reduce the risk of cracks just in correspondence of the joint
itself.
A malfunctioning in these devices can be found during
a visual inspection. Unfortunately, there are other devices
Figure 25. The Mizzoccola railway bridge: front and plan view
461
that can work in a wrong manner and that cannot be
detected without specific inspection activities or whose
repairing/substitution requires special interventions.
Substitution of the bearing supports of an old railway
bridge: the Mizzoccola Bridge
The Mizzoccola Bridge belongs to a small railway line that
connects the Italian city of Domodossola to the Swiss city of
Locarno, 52.2 km away. The line was built in the years
1920 – 1923. The bridge (Figure 25) was opened in
November 1923 and afterwards it was systematically
monitored and maintained. In 2005, the Società Subalpina
Imprese Ferroviarie (SSIF) Company, which owns the
bridge, detected traces of incorrect movements in one of the
steel bearing supports (Figure 26c,d) and then decided for
their substitution. This work implied the solution of two
different problems:
. the lifting of an old, statically indeterminate three-
span continuous beam;
. the choice of suitable lifting points in the zone
occupied by the original bearings.
The first problem was solved through structural
analyses, which allowed us to determine the maximum
differential displacement between the supports the bridge
would bear without excessive stresses induced in the steel
structure. The second problem required the set up of a
technique that, without causing damages to the structure,
allowed the lifting by means of hydraulic jacks of an old
truss made of riveted steel elements, composed of thin,
non-weldable L section and plates. The problem was
solved by flanking the elements converging to the support
nodes with modern steel plates and clogging the interstices
with low-strength concrete. Over the plates, a transversal
beam was welded: at its ends, the beam received the force
conveyed by the jacks. All the auxiliary supports were
 462
made at the same time. The lifting was carried out
separately for each support.
Figure 26(e) shows the plates of the original supports
after milling and restoring. Figure 26(f) shows the new
cylindrical supports. A historical comparison may be of
interest: at the load tests carried out on 6 November 1923,
the maximum vertical deflection at the middle of the right
lateral span was 10.00 mm. For the same loading
condition, at an intermediate test carried out on 25
October 1985, the deflection at the same point was
11.21 mm. After the recent works, these tests were
repeated on 29 April 2005 and the deflection was
11.06 mm. There are no records of the original deflections
at the middle of the central span: the deflection measured
in 2005 was 16.20 mm.
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Substitution of the end restrains and of the joints in a
long pre-stressed bridge: the Grosotto Viaduct
This case considers the effect of the shortening of a
cantilevering erected bridge, which belongs to the stretch
of the national road no. 38 in the Grosotto municipality.
The bridge is composed of precast segments made
Figure 26. The Mizzoccola Bridge: (a), (b) the auxiliary system adopted to lift the bridge; (c), (d) the original bearing supports after their
removal; (e) the plates of the original supports after milling and restoring; (f) the new cylindrical supports.
P.G. Malerba
continuous over a total length of 913 m (Figure 27). The
time-dependent shortening due to creep and shrinkage
provoked the disarticulation of the plate across the edges
of the joints (Figure 28c), an excessive sliding of the
external bearing supports (Figure 28b) and the detaching
of the end restraints against the abutments (Figure 28a).
The refurbishment consisted of repositioning the lower
plates of the bearing supports and strengthening the
same supports against seismic actions by means of steel
plates. The end restraints were overhauled and reposi-
tioned against a previously shimmed part of the
abutments.
The strengthening of the ties of one of the first tied
bridges: the Polcevera Bridge
According to the actual concepts of maintenance, the stays
are considered as parts that can be substituted when
necessary. Nevertheless, when the number of stays is very
limited, it is difficult not to involve the entire structure. In
the following section, the refurbishment of the ties of one
of the three A-shaped frames which characterise the
Polcevera Bridge is presented.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 463
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Figure 27. The Grosotto Viaduct on National Road no. 38: longitudinal view, typical deck section and pier section.

The structure
The Polcevera Bridge was designed by Riccardo Morandi
(Rome, 1902 –1989), built in the years 1960– 1964 and put
in service in September 1967. It flies over a large railway
parking lot and connects the A7 Genoa – Serravalle
highway to the A10 Genoa – Ventimiglia highway, which
reaches the French border. The bridge is 1121.4 m long
and 18.00 m wide. Its main stretch is characterised by two
parts (Morandi, 1967). The first part is composed of six V-
shaped piers, which sustain short cantilevered decks
supporting suspended girders 36.0 m long. The second part
is composed of three A-shaped frames 90.2 m high,
supporting decks 171.9, 171.9 and 145.7 m long.
The decks are connected by 36.0-m long suspended
girders. At a distance of 10 m from their ends, the long
decks are suspended to a couple of ties, made of pre-

Figure 28. The Grosotto Viaduct: (a) detachment of an end restraint from the abutment; (b) excessive sliding of one of the external
bearing supports and (c) disarticulation of the plates across the edges of a joint.
 464 P.G. Malerba
stressed concrete. This scheme repeats concepts already
adopted by Morandi for the Maracaibo Lagoon Bridge
(Venezuela, 1957 – 1962, Consorcio Puente Maracaibo)
and then for the Rio Magdalena Bridge (Barraquilla,
Columbia, 1969– 1972, Lodigiani) and the Wadi Kuff
(Beida, Libia, 1965– 1971, C.M.C.) (Morandi, 1969). In
the following section, some aspects regarding the
construction phases are recalled, in order to allow an
understanding of the repairing interventions carried out on
the bridge.
The concept of stay according to Morandi
The three A-shaped frames mentioned above form
independent balanced systems, each spanning on four
supports and carrying a five-cells deck which is 171.9 m
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long and 18 m wide (Figure 29). The two internal supports,
41.64 m apart, are placed at the top of two pairs of
diverging inclined legs. The other two supports of the deck
are represented by the lateral ends of the transverses
placed at a distance of 10 m from the tips of the
cantilevers. The ends of the transverses are, in turn,
suspended at the two pairs of ties. These ties are probably
Figure 29. The Polcevera Bridge (1960– 1964): general view of the bridge, an A-shaped frame, the antenna and the typical section of
the deck.
the most characteristic elements of the Morandi system.
The tie sections are shown in Figure 30.
The construction sequence of the A-shaped frames can
be summarised in the following steps:
. Construction of two balanced cantilevers, made of
nine successive segments, each 5.50 m long. During
this stage, the deck was supported by the external
pre-stressing action exerted by temporary bundles of
wires, anchored at the ends of each couple of
segments. These bundles spanned over the extrados
of the deck, passing over a set of 2.10 m high
trestles, placed in correspondence of the two internal
supports. The trestles were adopted to increase the
internal lever arm and to give some vertical
component to the forces acting in the wires. At a
10-m distance from the end of the cantilevers, a
massive transverse received the anchorages of the
actual suspension ties. At this temporary stage, the
transverses were only partially cast, in order to limit
the weight.
. After the partial completion of the cantilevers, the
temporary suspension action was transferred to a set
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
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Figure 30. The Polcevera Bridge: composition of one tie and its sections.
of bundles of wires, passing over the top of the
antenna and anchored against the six vertical walls
of the box girder. After the activation of this new
supporting system, the end transverses were
completed.
. At this stage, it was possible to spin, for each tie, the
suspension cables, arranged as shown in Figure 30.
The end transverses were partially pre-stressed and
the cables were partially tensioned.
. The temporary supporting cables were removed.
The final 10-m long stretches of the cantilevers were
cast by means of a movable truss formwork. The
pre-stressing of the deck was completed and the
external temporary bundles of wires spanning over
the extrados were removed.
. At this point, each suspension cable was integrated
by 28 auxiliary tendons, composed of four strands
and arranged as shown in Figure 30. The whole
bundle of main and auxiliary tendons, each of them
enveloped by its own sheath, was encased in a
concrete covering, cast in segments and having a
mean section of 0.98 m by 1.22 m. It must be noted
that, at the casting time, the main tendons were
anchored at the ends of the external transverses and
465
partially tensioned, while the auxiliary tendons had
temporary anchorages in niches over the extrados of
the deck and were still not tensioned.
. After the concrete of the case enveloping the
tendons had reached a suitable resistance, the
auxiliary tendons were tensioned in order to put
the concrete case under compression. Until this
stage, the cables remained free to move in the
concrete case, the sheaths still not being injected.
. By means of suitable couplers, the auxiliary cables
lengths were extended and their ends anchored at
the transverses. The lower end of the case around
the tendons was completed and then pre-stressed.
The pre-stressing was given through the auxiliary
tendons tensioned from the side of end
anchorages.
. The construction sequence was completed with the
injection of the sheaths, which made the tendons
and their enveloping case collaborating in carrying
any new added load.
Such a sequence is no doubt complicated, but has a clear
aim: to create ties that behave as a homogeneous system
made of tendons working in tension and of a pre-stressed
 466 P.G. Malerba

concrete case, working in decompression, but not in
tension, under the added loads (suspended girders, finishing
works, traffic, wind and temperature loads). In this way, the
fatigue effects in the strands were limited, thanks to the
reduction of stress variations due to variable loads, and at
the same the strands were protected against corrosion.
density polyethylene (HDPE) sheaths. The cables
were mounted in steps.
. Placement of a set of short cables, later used to tune
the tension in the new stays and in the concrete
original ties.

Transfer of the tension force from the ties to the stays

Needed repair interventions
The transfer of the tension force from the ties to the stays
After about 25 years of service, many parts of the bridge
was obtained with the following sequence:
presented severe damage states. On the ties of frame No.
11, at the Genoa side, clear corrosion traces in the strands
. Placement and partial tensioning until 250 N/mm2
of the tendons appeared. Minor damages were detected on
of four long stays (Figure 34, tensioning phase 1).
the tendons at the top of the antenna of the nearby frame
. Placement of the remaining eight long stays. Tension
(No. 10) and in other parts of the bridge. In 1992 –1994, a
reduction of the first four stays and contemporary
recovery programme was carried out under the guidance of
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increase of the tension in four of the new eight cables.

Francesco Pisani, who was one of Professor Morandi’s
The tensile stress in all these eight cables was equalised
aides at the time of the bridge design, and planned the
at 150 N/mm2 (Figure 34, tensioning phase 2).
repairing intervention phases (Martinez y Cabrera &
. Progressive demolition of the last reaches, 7.00 m
Pisani, 1994). The main intervention concerned the four
long, of the damaged parts of the concrete ties and
ties of frame No. 11. The basic concept of the intervention
partial reconstruction for a length of 6.50 m
was to flank each original tie with a set of 12 additional
(Figure 35). The gap of 0.50 m was used for the
modern cables, in order to transfer the suspension action
subsequent cutting of the old cables. For the
from the ties to the stays.
reconstruction, a high strength fibre reinforced
concrete, having f’c ¼ 50 N/mm2, was used. In the
The repair intervention sequence reconstructed part, 2 £ 40 bars having a 36 mm
diameter were inserted to fix secondary anchoring
The intervention was aimed at creating a new suspension
devices. These new added devices anchored one of
system, adding new elements to the original structure with
the ends of the new short cables. The other end
the following sequence:
was anchored at lower terminal plates (Figures 31c
and 33).
. Placement of (2 þ 2) new anchorage boxes, at the
. Placement of the (3 þ 3) short stays, made of
top of the antenna. Each box was made of two steel
31/0.6 inch low-relaxation strands. Tensioning of the
plates, each having three niches and connected by
six short cables at 815 N/mm2 (Figure 34, tensioning
steel stiffeners (Figure 31a).
phase 3), for the set at the Savona side, and at 910 N/
. Placement of collar guides along the catenary of
mm2, for the set at the Genoa side.
the original ties. The collars, placed at a pitch of
. Cutting of both long and short old cables.
4 m, had 12 holes where the new cables were
. Progressive tension increase in the new long cables
housed (Figure 31b).
and progressive tension decrease in the new short
. Placement of lower anchoring devices at the
cables, according to phases 4–9, shown in Figure 34.
abutment at Genoa side (Figure 32). The abutment
At the end of the tensioning phases, the long cables
was drilled to allow the new cables to cross the
were set at a stress of 430 N/mm2 and the short cables
thickness of the original concrete structure. The
at 230 N/mm2 (Savona side) and 270 N/mm2 (Genoa
abutment structure was strengthened by means of
side).
Titan bars.
. Cable injection and filling of the gap of 0.50 m at the
. Placement of lower anchoring devices at the ends of
lower end of the ties.
the transverse beam towards frame No. 10
(Figure 33). This device was made of two steel All these phases were systematically monitored. The
plates which formed a cellular ribbed structure main controls regarded the following:
(Figure 31c).
. Placement of a set of 12 additional cables for each tie. . vertical displacements at the middle and at the lower
The cables were made of 22/0.6 inch low-relaxation ends of the stays;
strands, having a section of 150 mm2. Each hot dip . horizontal displacements at the top of the antenna;
galvanised strand, as well as the group of the strands . stress variation in three sections of the deck and in
which formed the cable, were encased in high- four sections along the stays.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 467
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Figure 31. The Polcevera Bridge: (a) anchorage plates at the top of the antenna; (b) collar fastening of the original stays and (c) lower
end ribbed plate.

The repair works concerned also the other two frames.
On frame No. 10 a local repair, aimed to strengthen the
upper end of the ties, was carried out. On frame No. 9,
whose cables appeared less damaged with respect to the
previous ones, no particular interventions were adopted.
Surface protection interventions were carried out on all
three frames.
Conclusions about the repair intervention of the Polcevera
Bridge
As already mentioned above, the basic concept of the main
intervention was to flank the original ties with new cables
and to transfer the suspension action from the ties to the
stays. Through specially designed devices (the collars and
the new anchorage systems) and following the recovery
sequence (the progressive tensioning phases), the new
‘composed’ stay system, resulting from the coupling of the
old ties to the new cables, maintains its original shape,
while the stiffness characteristics remain very close to the
original ones. This is important in order to maintain the
original design behaviour of the bridge and to avoid any
change in the deflection and flexural behaviour of the deck,
with consequences also on the elements of the main frame.
Another aim of the progressive tension transfer from
the old ties to the new composed stays was to reduce the
structural risk of excessive compression stresses in the
concrete ties, avoiding potential bursting effects. In fact,
 468 P.G. Malerba
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Figure 32. The Polcevera Bridge: anchorage of the tie to the abutment.

the operation of transferring the carrying action from the Only some traffic limitations were needed during the
old system to the new one involves the cutting of the old demolition and tensioning phases.
cables. The old cables were fully collaborating with the
concrete section of the original tie. If they were not hold
back, they would have discharged the original pre- General considerations on the Polcevera Bridge
stressing force entirely on the concrete section. To this
The Polcevera Bridge and other Morandi tied bridges
purpose, the short cables served to bypass the section
represent an exceptional reference from the conceptual,
where the old strands were cut and, by tuning the tension in
aesthetic and technical point of view, which is even more
the new long and short cables, to graduate the load
relevant if related to the times in which these structures
transfer. At the end of this process, the compressive stress
were built. Nowadays, however, similar static schemes,
in the concrete ties was about 10 N/mm2, as the original
though brilliant, cannot be proposed. According to the
design assumed. Finally, it must be pointed out that the
modern criteria of durability, the ‘pre-stressed concrete
interventions were carried out without traffic interruptions.
tie’ does not appear as a safe solution for elements in

Figure 34. The Polcevera Bridge: diagram showing the

Figure 33. The Polcevera Bridge: anchorage of the stays to the evolution of tensile stresses in the long and short cables, during
deck transverse. the tensioning phases adopted in the strengthening works.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
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Figure 35. The Polcevera Bridge: phases of demolition and reconstruction of the end zones of the ties.
tension. Moreover, the suspension action entrusted to a
limited number of elements makes the whole structure
little robust and the maintenance actions quite difficult.
Modern bridge configurations, characterised by a relative
great number of stays (a ‘curtain of stays’), are designed so
that, should the failure of one of the many stays occur, the
subsequent loss of suspension action would be made up for
by other suspension elements, making the cables
maintenance and/or substitution easier.
Conclusions
At the end of this paper, the following conclusions can be
drawn. As regards the relationship between the bridges and
the environment, on the basis of what was observed, the
actual trend to avoid or to limit the number of piers in
riverbed, and to prefer an increase in the span of the deck,
is confirmed and recommended. Possible piers in the
riverbed must have strong foundations, surrounded by
suitable riverbed stabilisation devices. The piers must be
correctly placed with respect to the flow.
As far as existing bridges are concerned, it seems that
the old massive and well-shaped piers behave better than
some types of piers built in the 1960s and 1970s, which
tend to rake solid debris and are more vulnerable.
Moreover, a massive pier makes it easier to carry out
integrative works aimed at helping the original foun-
dations. Speaking about the main structures, the usual
remarks on the durability of reinforced and pre-stressed
concrete structures can be recalled. A proper choice of the
type of concrete, a correct curing process, adequate cover
and detailing of the reinforcing bars may considerably
lengthen the service life and reduce maintenance costs. A
469
particular attention must be paid to the drainage system.
The lack of efficiency of the drainage system is one of the
main causes of damages and corrosion both in steel and in
concrete structures. Any effort to eliminate joints or, at
least, reduce their dynamic effects must be done.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the members of my design team:
Emanuele Barbera, Paolo Galli, Chiara Malerba, Marco di
Domizio, Giacomo Comaita and Giancarlo Mineo. Many of the
works presented were carried out in cooperation with late
Professor Francesco Martinez y Cabrera, who held before me the
chair of Bridge Theory at the Politecnico di Milano, to whom my
memory and my gratitude go. The hydraulic studies were carried
by the ETATEC Company, under the supervision of Professor
Alessandro Paoletti (Politecnico di Milano). The Polcevera
intervention was conceived by Francesco Pisani, under the
supervision of F. Martinez y Cabrera. All Italian authorities who
promoted special investigations and demanding repairing works
are gratefully acknowledged. Among these are as follows: the
ANAS (Italian Agency for Roads) Compartment for the
Lombardia region, Milan; The Lodi Municipality, Lodi; the
Technical Office of the Lecco Province, Lecco; FNM SpA (North
Milan Railways), Milan; SSIF Spa (Swiss-Italian Railway
Company), Domodossola.
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