The Zuoz Bridge, also known as ''Innbrücke Zuoz'' is a three hinged reinforced concrete box girder

hinged arch bridge A hinged arch bridge is one with hinges incorporated into its structure to allow movement. The most common varieties are the two-hinged bridge with hinges at the springing points and the three-hinged bridge with an additional hinge at the crown ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

Robert Maillart Robert Maillart (16 February 1872 – 5 April 1940) was a Swiss civil engineer who revolutionized the use of structural reinforced concrete with such designs as the three-hinged arch and the deck-stiffened arch for bridges, and the beamless ...

, and is the first box girder bridge to be constructed out of reinforced concrete. Constructed in 1901, this was the first of his independently designed reinforced concrete arch bridges.

Design

With reinforced concrete construction still being relatively new at the time, it was standard practice to imitate the forms of masonry construction both structurally and visually. As such, on his previous

Stauffacher Bridge ''Stauffacher'' is a tram junction (lines 2, 3, 8, 9, 14) in Aussersihl, Zurich, next to the St. Jakob church, situated along the ''Badenerstrasse'' between the ''Bäcker'' and the ''Stauffacher'' streets. The tram stop was named after the street ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

, architect

Gustav Gull Gustav Gull (December 7, 1858 in Altstetten – June 10, 1942 in Zürich) was a famed Swiss architect. Life He came from a family of architects. He studied architecture at the Polytechnic of Zürich attended courses at the École des Arts Dé ...

designed the concrete arch to be hidden behind a masonry facade. Rather than parting with this non-structural form entirely, Maillart integrated an outer wall of concrete into the Zuoz Bridge, such that the arch increased in depth and the overall stiffness of the structure increased. Although there was no mathematical approach for proving the structural viability of Maillart's design, Wilhelm Ritter, the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

s consultant suggested that the project go ahead after subjecting it to a full scale load test. Testing revealed acceptable minor cracking, which throughout the structure's life increased, such that on his following 1904 design for the Tavanasa Bridge, Maillart removed those segments of the wall subject to cracking.

References

Bridges in Graubunden Arch bridges Zuoz {{Switzerland-bridge-struct-stub