Use of high strength concrete. Footbridges in Montjuïc

Abstract

The communication presented collects the experience of a couple of footbridges in Barcelona that allow the acces to the Olympic Ring in Montjuïc from Spain Square in an area with high arquitectural value. The care about the negative impact that the footbridges could produce in the surroundings, delayed the decision about its construction till the accesibility to the Olympic Ring was unavoidable. For this reason the design of a structure with the lesser presence as possible was decided. The dimension pf the structural sections had to be reduced as much as possible, avoiding flat corners in their visible edges and chosing materials that, contributing to obtain the previous objetives, had a texture and tonalities that made easy their integration with the envoirment. The structural solution chosen consists of a transversal section with a T-inverted shape, encastred in the side of the mountain. The central concrete rib is 0,80 m width and 1,42 total height. The strong value of the compresions located in a reduced width, requiered the use of a high stron concrete H-800. The principal ideas that allowed the conception, sizing, calculation and construction of these simple and smart structures are shown in the communication. Moreover, the most outstanding aspects about casting this type of concrete are collectes in the communication, falliing in to its quality control.