Construction of the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Barcelona.

The construction of the Nelson Mandela Bridge at El Prat del Llobregat in Barcelona was finished in February 2015. The bridge is placed very close to the Llobregat river mouth and plays a key role in connecting Barcelona’s commercial port with both El Prat airport and an important industrial park in the metropolitan area. The bridge stands out as it has the longest arch in the Catalan region with its main span of 150 m. The total length of the bridge is 304 m and the deck width is 29 m. However, the singular point is the structural scheme, a combination of a frame and a half-through arch. During the construction process the structure was changed several times. This evolutionary process established the final forces and stresses in the bridge, tightly bonding the construction stage to the implementation. To verify all the construction phases, the structure was monitored in real time. The instrumentation, combined with the usual control, made it possible to evaluate the structure’s stress state and compare it with the models as well as verifying the correct ongoing of the construction and adjusting the next phases of the process where needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]