Assessment of the bôco historical RC bridge

Abstract

The Bôco Bridge is located along the portuguese road EM595-1, breaching the valley of the Cávado river and dividing the regions of Amares and Vieira do Minho, in the district of Braga. This bridge was designed by the architect Sebastião Lopes and built in between the years of 1909 and 1910 by the company Moreira de Sá & Malevez, dealers of the patented Hennebique system in Portugal. It is considered the fourth oldest reinforced concrete (RC) bridge in Portugal. The original bridge was 33 m long and 4.55 m wide. The two parallel arches with a rectangular cross-section of 0.30 m by 0.70 m are supported at each end by abutments directly casted on the rock. A comprehensive study of Bôco Bridge was carried out including historical, geometrical and damage surveys, as well as the physical and chemical characterization of existing structural materials (steel and concrete). This paper presents and analyses the most important results of this study.