Assessment of the Structural Integrity of the Roman Bridge of Alcántara (Spain) Using TLS and GPR

Abstract

The Roman bridge of Alcántara is the largest in Spain. Its preservation is of the utmost importance and to this end different aspects must be studied. The most prominent is the assessment of its structure, and this is especially important as the bridge remains in use. This paper documents the way the assessment of structural safety was carried out. The assessment methodology of existing structures was applied. The preliminary assessment was based on bibliographic data and non-destructive techniques. The geometric data of the bridge were obtained by Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), which made possible the analysis of its deformations and assessment of its structure. Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) was also used with different antennae to work at different depths and spatial resolutions with the aim of analysing structural elements. From the above information, the assessment of structural safety was made using the limit analysis method by applying the historical works carried out on it and those described in the regulation of obligatory compliance in Spain (IAP11), studying the sensitivity of safety to the most relevant parameters. The state of preservation and structural integrity of the bridge is discussed and conclusions are drawn on the areas of greatest risk and the bases for the following assessment phase of preservation of the bridge.

Geoarchaelogical Study of the Roman Pietra Dell’Oglio Bridge at the Service of the Old Appian Way, Campania, Southern Italy

“…As for the construction of Roman bridges, we refer to the monumental works of O'Connor (1993) and Galliazzo (1995), which are still up today the most comprehensive, in-depth, and detailed ones (Cortéz Pérez et al, 2018;Inglese & Paris, 2020). In fact, these two Authors describe the historical, architectural, structural, archaeological, typological, and planning aspects (from the works of foundation to the walking floor, the furnishings, the defenses) and methodology on the possibility of dating, respectively, about 330 and 1560 bridges in different areas of Europe and the Middle East.…”

“…The research is framed in the activity carried out by the Associazione Nazionale per gli Interessi del Mezzogiorno d'Italia (ANIMI)-Società Magna Grecia in relation to the interdisciplinary work focused on the study of archaeological sites and their environmental context, and the techniques of Geoarchaeology (Rapp & Hill, 1998;Pollard, 1999;Ghilardi & Desruelles, 2009;Shahack-Gross, 2017;Gilbert, 2017;Gençer & Turan, 2017;Leonardi, 2017;Cortéz Pérez et al, 2018;Shillito et al, 2019) have been applied in order to: 1) illustrate the geological and geomorphological setting of the POB area; 2) describe the current state of the POB, its original architectural and structural elements, and their raw materials, to identify the possible construction period; 3) establish whether the POB is the Pons Aufidi of the old Appian Way; 4) improve the knowledge on the construction techniques of Roman bridges, particularly in Campania.…”

A Decade of Modern Bridge Monitoring Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning: Review and Future Directions

“…This model not only provides a detailed vision of the existing structure, but also allows one to obtain resulted simulations close to real behavior of the structure. As such, in recent years, structural engineers have taken advantage of the constructed geometric models as a basis for assessing structural performance [126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135]. That allows one to improve a decision system for possible actions of the maintenance timely, especially for large-scale complex structures such as bridges [136][137][138][139].…”

Tower of Belém (Lisbon)–Status Quo 3D Documentation and Material Origin Determination

“…Given this situation, a detailed inventory of the state of the monument is very much needed. Geomatic techniques for the elaboration of high resolution 3D models of this kind of architectural construction are a very useful tool for making an inventory of historical heritage [15]. 3D techniques have become an indispensable tool for the structural analysis of important architectural monuments.…”

“…3D techniques have become an indispensable tool for the structural analysis of important architectural monuments. They provide the 3D documentary information that forms the basis for subsequent studies of conservation, rehabilitation and reconstruction of such monuments [15][16][17]. Non-destructive techniques for the study of historical heritage offer great advantages to the task of restoration [18].…”