Current state of the dynamic monitoring of the “Chiaravalle viaduct”

Abstract

This paper describes some notable aspects regarding the dynamic monitoring planned for the Chiaravalle viaduct, linking SS76 and airport of Ancona in Falconara, in Italy. The viaduct is 875 m long and consists of four r.c. kinematic chains separated by joints. The deck is constituted by three beams supported by column bent piers constituted by two circular r.c. columns founded on a continuous footing on six concrete piles. The first purpose of the dynamic monitoring is to determine the experimental natural frequencies and mode shapes of the viaduct before a scheduled seismic rehabilitation. Then, comparison of the first results with those obtained after the retrofit of foundation and piers and finally after the substitution of the deck bearing, will contribute to evaluate efficiency of the executed works. Two different inputs are used for the dynamic tests, ambient and traffic vibrations. An Operational Modal Analysis is carried out starting from the collected data, using the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique. Different sensor configurations are used to evaluate the overall behaviour of the viaduct. The Pre Global Estimation Re-scaling method is adopted in order to merge the different parts of mode shapes relevant to each configuration. Results of dynamic tests are interpreted through a 3D Finite Element model of the viaduct. Firstly, a conventional fixed base model is considered, then a model including the Soil-Structure Interaction phenomena is developed in order to improve consistency between numerical and experimental results. The modal parameters obtained by the model including Soil-Structure Interaction are in good agreement with those estimated experimentally.