engleski

Krk bridge from inception to today

The Mainland – Krk Island Bridge was constructed in 1980. The bridge comprises two reinforced concrete arches, divided by the St.Marc Island, the Krk I Bridge of 390m span and the Krk II Bridge with the span of 244m. The design and construction of this bridge can still be regarded as an outstanding engineering achievement, even nowadays after almost thirty years of its completion. The bridge design was performed by the engineering office of the Mostogradnja Engineering Company, entrusted with its construction and took into account all the basic principles of bridge design, aesthetics, economy, the available construction equipment and speed of construction. Both arches were constructed using precast elements by cantilevering, temporarily stayed from the shores across a system of steel stays. In order to reduce forces in auxiliary stays, utilized to provide cantilevered support to the arches during construction, the arches were constructed in two or more stages, the central cell of box girder being constructed first, followed by side cells, subsequently concreted in-situ following completion of arch crown. It was thus accomplished that the quantity of auxiliary steel stays remained the same as for the construction of the Šibenik Bridge of 251m span, making the construction very economical. Unfortunately, due to the extremely thin concrete elements employed for arches, spandrel columns and the superstructure and consequently very small concrete cover in an aggressive maritime environment, very soon chlorides from the salty sea began to penetrate into the structural elements and the maintenance of this bridge became a big problem.

Concrete arch bridge; cantilever construction; record span; concrete cover; aggressive maritime environment

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