Experimental evaluation at failure of a PRC bridge beam after 60 years of working life: preliminary results

The safety assessment of existing infrastructures is an issue of big interest for infrastructures management Authorities. In detail, in Italy, a wide number of both reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PRC) bridges was built during 1960-70's. Many of these bridges are still on service and ask for concerns about their actual bearing capacity after more than 50 years. This work presents some preliminary results of the experimental investigation of the ultimate behaviour of a PRC bridge beam extracted from a bridge deck built around 1960. The bridge (Mollere viaduct) was located close to the country of Ceva (Italy) along the Torino-Savona highway A6. The static scheme of the PRC beam was simply supported with a total span of 34.60m and having end half-joints. The beam was prestressed by means of post-tensioning technique. In particular, the main criticisms related to the planning of the experimental campaign are presented and, at the end, some outcomes in terms of structural behavior are highlighted.