Bridges and Viaducts · Continuous or Beam
Montabliz Viaduct (Cantabria)
technical specifications
Location
A-67 Motorway (Cantabria)
Scope of Works
Supervision of construction
Structural type
Continuous box girder
Construction process
Balanced cantilever using four form travellers
Overall length
721,0 m
Spans
110,0+155,0+175,0+155,0+126,0 m
Deck width
26,1 m
Deck maximum height
145,0 m
Project Description
The Montabliz Viaduct supports the A-67 Motorway when it crosses the valley of the river Bisueña.
The deck is a prestressed concrete continuous box girder that is fixed at the piers and simply supported on the bearings of the abutments. The lengths of the spans are 110,0+155,0+175,0+155,0+126,0 m. The deck was built as a balanced cantilever using form travellers. There is only one deck for a dual carriageway platform. The width of the platform of the deck is 26,1 m. The horizontal alignment is a curve of radius 700 m. The cross slope is 8%.
The depth of the deck varies from 11,0 m at the connection of the central piers to 4,3 m at the center of the main spans and near the abutments. The width of the top slab of the box section is 15,7 m; completing the section with two lateral cantilevers that are 5,2 m long. There are transverse beams on the top slab every 5 m. The depth of these transverse beams is 1,10 m inside the box and varies from 1,10 to 0,25 m at the cantilevers.
As is commonly designed for balanced cantilever bridges there are prestressing tendons all along the top slab and also on the bottom slab but only in the central part of the main spans and on the side spans near the abutments. There is also a vertical prestressing system, made of high strength steel bars, to prevent the concrete webs from cracking due to shear and torsional effects.
The piers are made of reinforced concrete. The cross section of the piers is a rectangular hollow section. At the top of the piers the dimensions are 7,1 x 6,7 m but these dimensions increase on going down the piers. At the bottom of piers P2 and P3 the dimensions reach 13 and 15 m. Piers P1 and P2 are 50-60 m high while pier P3 is 115 m and pier P2 is 130 m high, which is the highest pier in Spain.
The foundations of the piers are made using concrete piles. The diameter of the piles is 1,8 m.
The abutments are made of reinforced concrete. Their foundation is made using stepped foundation slabs.