Abstract: The 2,404 m long Pelješac Bridge ranks among the most demanding bridges in the world, not only in terms of complexity of construction, but also in terms of complexity of design. It is located in the area of high seismic activity, with the peak design acceleration of soil at the bedrock level PGA=0.34g, and the required design acceleration of 0.54 g. The compact bedrock is located at a depth of up to 80 m below the sea bed, which requires extremely deep foundations on driven steel piles, up to 124 m long. The bridge is located in the area of strong and gusty winds with the reference wind speed exceeding 34 m/s. Particular attention was paid to ensuring that the bridge remains stable under strong wind gusts and open for traffic in all weather conditions. ln order to meet the main criteria of quality design, such as stability, durability, economy and integration into the environment, the inventive design proposed the construction of an extradosed bridge with an integrated hybrid structure comprising 5 central spans, each 285 m long, and 6 low pylons. Thus, the designed structure ensures the necessary seismic stability of the bridge without installation of large bearings and additional seismic dampers, which is confirmed by numerous complex non-linear computational analyses, presented in detail in the paper. The soil-structure interaction was considered in all non-linear analyses. After completion the Pelješac Bridge will be ranked among the 5 largest and most attractive European bridges, constructed at the beginning of the 21st century.

Keywords: extradosed bridge, stay-cable, deep foundation, piles, earthquake, wind, monitoring

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