| Medium: |
book chapter |
| Language(s): |
English
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| Published in: |
Case Studies on Failure Investigations in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering |
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Page(s):
|
113-127
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Total no. of pages: |
15 |
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|
Page(s):
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113-127
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| Total no. of pages: |
15 |
| DOI: |
10.2749/cs004.ch10 |
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Abstract:
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This chapter presents the forensic investigations conducted after the partial collapse of the Wilson Bridge on the Loire River in the city of Tours in France. It reviews several papers published in French after the collapse, intending to share the main lessons with the international community. The collapse of five piers and six arches among the fifteen arches of this old masonry bridge occurred in 1978 during a strong flood of the Loire River. The main causes concluded by the experts are a general scour emphasised by a significant lowering of the river bed due to material excavations, a local scour of the alluvions, and a washout of the sand between the wooden piles through the protective rockfill, which seems to have remained in place. These causes led to the destabilisation of the foundations of the piers. This event triggered the publication of the Technical Instruction for the Surveillance and Maintenance of Bridges (ITSEOA) in 1979 and the necessity to limit the extraction of materials in French rivers.
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| Copyright: |
© 2023 International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE)
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| License: |
This creative work is copyrighted material and may not be used without explicit approval by the author and/or copyright owner.
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