Structural Safety and Stability of the Bridge on the Paraopeba River in Moeda, Minas Gerais, Brazil: Case Study

Abstract

A railway bridge over the Paraopeba River was built in Moeda, Minas Gerais, Brazil; however, the railway line for which it was intended was deactivated and, to reuse it as a road bridge, a concrete deck was installed. Upon closer inspection, anomalies were revealed and their causes were found to be related to the installation of the new deck. This work intends to contribute to the structural evaluation and rehabilitation of steel bridges through numerical analysis. For this purpose, a three-dimensional numerical finite-element model of the structure using the SAP2000 version 15 software was developed, in which the acting loads were applied according to the Brazilian standards. The outcomes obtained by the performed nonlinear analysis indicate the occurrence of buckling due to the axial compression load in some structural elements, a phenomenon also observed during the bridge’s first inspection. Thus, to ensure that the bridge is safely reused, the locking of the truss diagonals is proposed as a structural reinforcement. Additionally, the posts’ lateral locking of the three end spans is recommended.