Experimental Evaluation of Properties of 120 Years Old Concretes at Two Concrete Bridges in Slovakia

Abstract

Currently there are two bridges older than 120 years under reconstruction in Slovakia. One of them is the Old Bridge in Bratislava, which has been built in 1891 and has a steel superstructure supported by concrete piers. The other one is the Monier Arch Bridge in Krásno nad Kysucou, which has been built in 1892. Since only limited information about the properties of such an old concrete is available, it was almost impossible for the designer to verify the load bearing capacity of these bridges and to design their reconstruction efficiently. To verify the properties of these concretes drill cores were made on both bridges, some of them being more than 20 meters long [17]. After that the measured concrete properties were used to confirm or modify the reconstruction method proposed in the preliminary design. Our paper deals with some mechanical properties measured on these more than 120 years old concretes.