08/11/2021
A technological state of art miracle The Rio-Antirio Bridge is World's Longest Multi-span Cable-stayed . The bridge received the 2006 Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association for Bridge and Structural . In 2011 the bridge was featured on TV in an episode of Richard Hammond’s Engineering Connections. The Rion - Antirion bridge is a masterpiece of engineering and geoscience. It crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras, linking the town of on the to on mainland .
With a suspended deck of 2,883m, the Rion-Antirion Bridge features four pylons (where there are usually two) and has a reference span of 560m.
This bridge is widely considered to be an engineering masterpiece, owing to several solutions applied to span the difficult site. These difficulties include deep water, insecure materials for foundations, seismic activity, the probability of , and the expansion of the Gulf of due to plate tectonics. Due to the peculiar conditions of the straits, several unique engineering problems needed to be considered. The water depth reaches 65 m, the seabed is mostly of loose sediment, the seismic activity and possibility of tectonic movement is significant, and the of is expanding at a rate of about 30 mm a year. For these reasons, special construction techniques were applied. The piers are not buried into the , but rather rest on a bed of gravel which was meticulously leveled to an even surface (a difficult endeavor at this depth). During an earthquake, the piers should be allowed to move laterally on the seabed with the gravel bed absorbing the energy. The bridge parts are connected to the pylons using jacks and dampers to absorb movement; too rigid a connection would cause the bridge structure to fail in the event of an earthquake. It was also important that the bridge not have too much lateral leeway so as not to damage the piers. There is provision for the gradual expansion of the strait over the bridge’s .
Here are some amazing features-result of the meticulous engineering and geodesic calculations:
A ground acceleration in case of an of 48% of gravity has been calculated. According to the law of probability, an earthquake of this magnitude occurs once every 2,000 years. In addition, there is seismic insulation in the base of the
- The bridge has the capacity to withstand the collision of a 180 000 tons tanker at a speed of 16 knots.
- Its resistance to wind and # sea turbulence has been calculated for a speed of up to 265 km/h, equivalent to a hurricane.
- The volume of concrete used for the total construction of the bridge is 260,000 m³.
- Total length of cables supporting the roadway is 40 km
withstand an earthquake of 7.4 on the Richter scale.
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