The Metsovo Bridge, Greece

It is about a twin bridge at the section 3.3 of Egnatia Motorway, westwards of Metsovo village. It bridges the Metsovitikos river and the corresponding gorge between Metsovo and Anilio villages, at a location of outstanding natural beauty; the bridge is visible from both villages, as also from the surrounding mountains. This paper reports on the most important aspects of the design and construction of this very interesting bridge, which has the longest span constructed to date in Greece with the cantilevering method and one of the longest all over the world. The construction of the bridge began in October 2004 and was completed by the end of 2008. The size of the project, the height from the river bed (approximately 150 m), the very large central span (235 m), the particularly difficult topographic and seismic conditions, the severe winter of the region and the gusty local winds were some decisive issues, which were overcome successfully.