Abstract: Due to their characteristic appearance and complexity of materials used for their construction, masonry arch bridges are still the subject of experimental and numerical analyses. One of the characteristic examples of this type of structures is the Old Bridge in Mostar that, along with the bridge location, has been under UNESCO protection since 2005. It is exactly this symbol of the town residing on the Neretva River that has been selected as the basis for analysis of behavior of masonry arch bridges and their structural elements. This paper will present the results of the quasi-static tests on connection elements carried out on models of arch segments of the Old Bridge at the scale of 1: 3 as well as the results of the shaking table tests of the behavior of the physical model of the Old Bridge scaled to 1:9 under different levels of seismic excitation. The models were built by application of real connection elements between stone elements – cramps, dowels and liquid lead. Definition of bearing capacity and mode of deterioration of the connection elements of the tested segments as well as definition of the failure mechanisms of the bridge model are the main tasks of the performed experimental investigations.

Keywords: masonry arch bridges, static load, seismic load, connection elements, bearing capacity, development of cracks, failure mechanism

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