Structural modelling of the piers of the Paderno d’Adda Bridge (1889, Italy)

This note focuses on a specific aspect of the structural modelling of the Paderno d’Adda Bridge, a marvellous Italian historic wrought iron bridge with riveted connections that was completed in 1889 and opened to both railway and road traffics [1-2]. Within the current attempt of building a full 3D FEM model of the structure [3-7], the metallic piers of the bridge are considered [5-6], specifically the pier on the arch. The morphology of the piers has been reconstructed from the inspection of the original design drawings and implemented into a FEM model. Then, a structural analysis has been performed in the elastic range, by considering loading distributions that were conceived at design stage and also conditions that are nearer to present-state railway standards.