Loads
As mentioned in the first chapter, bridges are designed to enable the transport of goods over the shortest distance compared to the original geographical shape. Therefore, the bridge structure is exposed to certain loads, not only the loads passing over t
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Dirk Proske · Pieter van Gelder
Safety of Historical Stone Arch Bridges
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Dr.-Ing. habil. Dirk Proske, MSc. University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna Institute of Mountain Risk Engineering Peter-Jordan-Street 82 1190 Vienna Austria [email protected]
Dr.-Ir. Pieter van Gelder Delft University of Technology Section of Hydraulic Engineering Stevinweg 1 2628 CN Delft The Netherlands [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-540-77616-1 e-ISBN 978-3-540-77618-5 DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-77618-5 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926692 c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: eStudio Calamar S.L. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Stone arch bridges are special technical products in many aspects. Two of the most important aspects are their very long time of usage and their landscape changing capability. First, for more than two millenniums, stone arch bridges have been part of the human infrastructure system, and some of them are still in use. Most of the stone arch bridges now in use are older than the first century. The only type of structures reaching the same duration of usage are tombs and other religious structures. However, in contrast to those, arch bridges are much more exposed to changes in usage conditions. There exist Roman bridges that were crossed not only by Roman legions but also by tanks in World War II. When most stone arch bridges were constructed, motorized individual car traffic was yet unknown. This load now has to be borne by these historical bridges. We should probably much more esteem the farsightedness and endeavour of our ancestors, which we often count on nowadays without perception. Or perhaps we do notice as some common attitudes indicate, don’t we? In many children’s books, landscapes often include stone arch bridges. And if people are asked whether arch bridges are disturbing or accepted, in most cases people consider arch bridges as part of our man-made landscape and not necessarily as human artefact. Painters such as Paul Cézanne have included arch bridges in their landscape pain
