Topographic Monitoring of the Operational Behaviour of the Longest Cantilever Viaduct in Romania

Abstract

Over time, bridges have been built to fulfil different roles. With the development of industry came the need to build new transit routes linking industrial areas to cities or freight routes. The peak period of industrial development in Romania was in the 1960s, when a large number of bridges were built and put into operation. One of these bridges is the Sidex viaduct, located in Galaţi. The construction has a total length of 1,070 m, with 15 spans of different lengths (47.40 m + 13 * 75.00 m + 47.40 m). The resistance structure is made of 7 prestressed concrete frames linked together by joints located at the level of the cantilevers, the structure being the largest cantilever viaduct in operation in our country. The present article focuses on the presentation of the implementation of a special monitoring program of the viaduct’s in-service performance. For this purpose, special technologies have been used, such as topographic monitoring of the evolution of structural displacements at the most representative points of the structure, an implementation that we develop in detail.