The design approach of a Prestressed Concrete bridge constructed in 1950s in Italy

Resumen

In years 1950 the first bridges realized with the emerging technique of Prestressed Concrete (PC) were designed and constructed in Italy. In this paper the design of San Nicola bridge erected in Benevento (Italy) and designed by Riccardo Morandi in 1952-1955 is presented in order to analyse its conceptual design. The original design has been examined evidencing a careful process of optimization by adopting an innovative method of construction with precasted segments. The influence of some choices in geometry, static scheme, prestressing procedure on the structural response of the structure are discussed also by simple examples.