Understanding the response of masonry arch bridges under different scour scenarios

Abstract

In the last decades, several flood-induced bridge collapses have been registered all over the world, in particular related to local scour phenomenon. Masonry bridges, which constitute the most of the existing infrastructure heritage worldwide, are significantly sensitive to this problem because of their high stiffness and typically shallow foundations. With the aim of helping to understand the response of masonry arch bridges under scour actions, this paper proposes a numerical study on a real case study. A 3D finite element model of the bridge is developed in Abaqus accounting for both mechanical and geometrical nonlinearities, then two possible scour scenarios are simulated by following a consolidated procedure proposed in previous works and the damage mechanisms activated at different scour levels are analyzed and discussed.