Bendorf Bridge over the Rhine

Abstract

This recently completed bridge over the Rhine is 524 m long, and is a reinforced concrete structure, built by successive overhangs, without the aid of formwork or scaffolding. The centre span is 208 m in length, and the other six vary between 43 and 71 m. The deck consists of two independent parts, including a continuous box girder, with a hinge at the crown of the main span. It is stiffened with transversal diaphragms, spaced every 34 m. The piles rest on pneumatic caissons, which go down to 16 m below the river bed. The attachment between the piles and the caissons is rigid, at the central pile, and at the other piles it operates through a roller bearing. The central span was constructed without intermediate supports for the first 40 m, and beyond that stage, for greater safety, a provisional movable tower was built, as a temporary point of support for the free overhang. The various sections were concreted and post-tensioned with 32 mm bars, by the Dywidag procedure. Account was taken of the varying deformations that took place at each section, so as to add the necessary counter-deflection that finally enabled the two sides of the arch to meet at the crown at the calculated point.