The former “Littoria” Tower, now “Branca” Tower in Milan, was built in 1933 on the border of Simplon park in occasion of the 5th “Triennale delle Arti Decorative e Industriali”. The project was made by the architect Giò Ponti with the engineers Chiodi and Ferrari, and the construction last only two months and a half. It appears as a reticular frame in the shape of an hexagonal prism 108.6 m high, entirely made by structural steel pipes with welded junctions, weighting 140 tons for an overall length of 7 km. The feet are connected to a concrete block 6 m dept with a diameter of 18 m. An inner hexagonal structure act as a rail for the panoramic lift and support for the security staircase. The “F.lli Branca Distillerie S.p.A.” company became Concessionaire of the tower and take care of its refurbishment. In order to open the access to the public and taking into account the building peculiarity, the Concessionary Company take in charge responsibly the problem of tower conservation, keeping the consistency of the structural steelwork elements. After the refurbishment works (finished in 1990) and the completion of installations at the base (in 2001), the tower is again open to the public. From then, once a year the tower structure is subjected to a visual inspection, easily done from the service staircase (going from the ground to the top) and their footpaces. On the strength of such inspections in 2004 an intervention was planned on the whole structure, including cleaning, small corrosion refurbishment and protective painting cycle application. Moreover, the Concessionary Company agreed to collect data on wind history and on actual dynamic response of the structure, to be compared both to a numerical FE model response and to the previous calculations. With this scope, the Dept. of Project and Technologies of the Bergamo University proposed a continuous monitoring plan with remote control of top displacements (by means of differential GPS data) and acceleration history at different levels.
Planned conservation and maintenance of an innovative (1933) steel tower: the “Branca Tower” in Milan
MIRABELLA ROBERTI, Giulio
2009-01-01
Abstract
The former “Littoria” Tower, now “Branca” Tower in Milan, was built in 1933 on the border of Simplon park in occasion of the 5th “Triennale delle Arti Decorative e Industriali”. The project was made by the architect Giò Ponti with the engineers Chiodi and Ferrari, and the construction last only two months and a half. It appears as a reticular frame in the shape of an hexagonal prism 108.6 m high, entirely made by structural steel pipes with welded junctions, weighting 140 tons for an overall length of 7 km. The feet are connected to a concrete block 6 m dept with a diameter of 18 m. An inner hexagonal structure act as a rail for the panoramic lift and support for the security staircase. The “F.lli Branca Distillerie S.p.A.” company became Concessionaire of the tower and take care of its refurbishment. In order to open the access to the public and taking into account the building peculiarity, the Concessionary Company take in charge responsibly the problem of tower conservation, keeping the consistency of the structural steelwork elements. After the refurbishment works (finished in 1990) and the completion of installations at the base (in 2001), the tower is again open to the public. From then, once a year the tower structure is subjected to a visual inspection, easily done from the service staircase (going from the ground to the top) and their footpaces. On the strength of such inspections in 2004 an intervention was planned on the whole structure, including cleaning, small corrosion refurbishment and protective painting cycle application. Moreover, the Concessionary Company agreed to collect data on wind history and on actual dynamic response of the structure, to be compared both to a numerical FE model response and to the previous calculations. With this scope, the Dept. of Project and Technologies of the Bergamo University proposed a continuous monitoring plan with remote control of top displacements (by means of differential GPS data) and acceleration history at different levels.Pubblicazioni consigliate
Aisberg ©2008 Servizi bibliotecari, Università degli studi di Bergamo | Terms of use/Condizioni di utilizzo
