The design approach of a prestressed concrete bridge constructed in 1950s in Italy

espanolEn los anos 50 se disenaron y construyeron en Italia los primeros puentes realizados con la tecnica emergente del hormigon pretensado (PC). En este trabajo se presenta el diseno del puente de San Nicola levantado en Benevento (Italia) y disenado por Riccardo Morandi en 1952-1955 con el fin de analizar su diseno conceptual. Se ha examinado el diseno original evidenciando un cuidadoso proceso de optimizacion mediante la adopcion de un innovador metodo de construccion con dovelas prefabricadas. La importancia de algunas decisiones geometricas, el esquema estatico y el procedimiento de pretensado en la respuesta estructural de la estructura se comentan tambien mediante ejemplos sencillos. EnglishIn years 1950 the first bridges realized with the emerging technique of Prestressed Concrete (PC) were designed and constructed in Italy. In this paper the design of San Nicola bridge erected in Benevento (Italy) and designed by Riccardo Morandi in 1952-1955 is presented in order to analyse its conceptual design. The original design has been examined evidencing a careful process of optimization by adopting an innovative method of construction with precasted segments. The influence of some choices in geometry, static scheme, prestressing procedure on the structural response of the structure are discussed also by simple examples.