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Predicting the seismic behaviour of the foundations of the Messina Strait Bridge

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Abstract

This paper presents some of the geotechnical studies carried out for the seismic design of the one-span suspension bridge across the Messina Strait, that is to connect Sicily with mainland Italy. These studies included advanced geotechnical characterisation, through in situ and laboratory tests, estimate of site stability involving both liquefaction analysis and submerged slope stability, evaluation of soil-foundation stiffness for spectral analysis of the superstructure, 3D FE static calculations, evaluation of anchor block performance under seismic conditions, and full dynamic analyses of the soil–structure interaction. The paper summarises the main results obtained from the geotechnical characterisation of the foundation soils, reports the approach adopted for evaluating the seismic performance of the anchor blocks through a modified Newmark-type calculation, and presents the study of the soil–structure interaction carried out through a series of two-dimensional, plane strain numerical analyses. In these analyses, in addition to the embedded foundation elements, the models included a simplified structural description of the bridge towers specifically designed to reproduce their first vibrations modes, that were deemed to have the most significant influence on the system’s dynamic response. The illustration is limited to the foundation systems of the bridge located on the Sicily shore.

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Acknowledgments

The Authors wish to acknowledge Prof. Michele Jamiolkowski for the fruitful and stimulating discussions along the development of the study; they are also indebted Dr. Luca Masini and Dr. Riccardo Conti for performing some of the numerical analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotecnica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 , Rome, Italy

    Sebastiano Rampello & Luigi Callisto

  2. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Ingegneria Informatica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Giulia Viggiani

Authors
  1. Sebastiano Rampello
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  2. Luigi Callisto
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  3. Giulia Viggiani
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Correspondence to Sebastiano Rampello.

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Rampello, S., Callisto, L. & Viggiani, G. Predicting the seismic behaviour of the foundations of the Messina Strait Bridge. Bull Earthquake Eng 12, 1201–1219 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-013-9536-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-013-9536-2

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