Rio Antirio bridge officially the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge after the statesman who first envisaged it, is the world's longest multispan cable stayed bridge. It crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras, linking the town of Rio on the Peloponnese to Antirrio on mainland Greece by road. Charilaos Trikoupis was a 19th-century Greek prime minister; he suggested the idea of building a bridge between Rio and Antirrio. The project was too expensive at the time, when Greece was trying to get a late start in the Industrial Revolution. The bridge was planned in the mid-1990s and was built by a French-Greek consortium led by the French group Vinci, and which includes the Greek companies Hellenic Technodomiki-TEV, J&P-Avax;, Athena, Proodeftiki and Pantechniki.Site preparation and dredging began in July 1998, and construction of the massive supporting pylons in 2000. With these complete in 2003, work began on the traffic decks with the steel fabrication being carried out by Cleveland Bridge U.K. and supporting cables by Freyssinet. On May 21, 2004, the main construction was completed. only equipment (sidewalks, railings, etc.) and waterproofing remained to be installed. The total cost of the bridge was about € 630,000,000,funded by Greek state funds, the consortium and loans by the European Investment Bank. It was finished ahead of its original schedule, which had foreseen completion between September and November 2004, and within budget. The water depth reaches 65 m, the seabed is mostly of loose sediment, the seismic activity and possibility of tectonic movement is significant, and the Gulf of Corinth is expanding at a rate of about 30 mm a year. For these reasons, special construction techniques were applied. The piers are not buried into the seabed, but rather rest on a bed of gravel which was meticulously leveled to an even surface (a difficult endeavor at this depth). During an earthquake, the piers should be allowed to move laterally on the seabed with the gravel bed absorbing the energy. The bridge parts are connected to the pylons using jacks and dampers to absorb movement; too rigid a connection would cause the bridge structure to fail in the event of an earthquake. It was also important that the bridge not have too much lateral leeway so as not to damage the piers. There is provision for the gradual expansion of the strait over the bridge's lif On 28 January 2005, six months after the opening of the bridge, one of the cable links of the bridge snapped from the top of the M1 pylon and came crashing down on the deck. Traffic was immediately halted. The first investigation claimed that a fire had broken out on the top of the M1 pylon, after a lightning strike in one of the cables. The cable was immediately restored and the bridge re-opened on time. This documentary reveals how engineers solved the problem of building a 3km bridge across one of the most active earthquake faults in Europe in the Gulf of Corinth in Greece. He demonstrates and tests the principles deployed in the ingenious designs -- many unique -- which keep the bridge standing and discovered that defying disaster called for solutions inspired by fragrant Indian incense, the ring-pull in a soda can, a tobbogan, the hammock and some shiny steel chimneys.The construction would cross one of the most active seismic fault lines in Europe. Defying disaster called for solutions inspired by fragrant Indian incense, the ring-pull in a soda can, a tobbogan, a hammock, and some shiny steel chimneys. The bottom of the Gulf of Corinth is a 500 metre deep layer of soft silt. In a tremor it would turn to quicksand and the bridge would sink. The solution - long steel rods which act like the roots of sweet-smelling Vetiver grass. Preventing the bridge from toppling over meant allowing it to toboggan from side to side on a thick layer of gravel that acts like ball bearings. And stopping the bridge deck from buckling if it moved meant slinging it like a sailor's hammock and then restraining the movement with the biggest viscous dampers in the world. The system safely passed a real test in a 6.5 earthquake in June 2008. But earthquake protection left the bridge potentially vulnerable to other natural hazards, which the engineers had to tackle. more from megastructure Abu Dhabi Central Market - Extreme Engineering - Megastructures Documentary AL-Hamra Mall kuwait Big Bigger Biggest Airport -Heathrow Airport BIG BIGGER BIGGEST bridge BIG BIGGER BIGGEST Metro Build It Bigger Azerbaijan's Amazing Transformation Burj Khalifa Dubai's Palm Islands Dubai's Ski Resort Extreme Engineering Hong Kongs Airport Megastructures - Abu Dhabi The Round Skyscraper Megastructures - Lupu Arch Bridge China Megastructures - World Island Wonder Megastructures - World's Biggest Casino Megastructures Bahrain Trade Centre

• published: 25 Oct 2014
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