Structural assessment of the historic Ten Arches Bridge in Jordan

ABSTRACT The Ten Arches Bridge is a historical stone bridge that is located in Amman, Jordan. The bridge has a valuable cultural heritage as it was built in 1908 to serve the Hejaz Railway Line. This study presents a structural assessment of the bridge including a field inspection, experimental investigation, and numerical structural analysis. The study also investigates the efficacy of utilizing in-situ Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) such as Rebound Hammer (RH) and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) tests in the assessment of stone arch bridges. Detailed experimental and numerical investigations were performed to identify the structural integrity of the bridge by evaluating the acting stresses and displacements under static and dynamic loads. Minor deteriorations were found in the bridge’s body due to human and environmental factors. However, the geometrical properties of the bridge have not been significantly changed. The obtained results of the numerical analysis concluded that the bridge can sustain the current imposed dead and traffic loads, but not serve seismic actions. Compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of stone units obtained by RH and UPV tests are in agreement with the laboratory tests. Accordingly, NDT techniques can provide and verify basic mechanical properties that are needed for numerical analyses.