Foundations of Valdivia Bridge (Chile)

Principia carried out the calculations for the foundation of the abutment for a suspension bridge in Valdivia (Chile). Since the ground was not sufficiently competent, a dense pile group was provided.

The seismic activity is rather high in the region, which implies that the horizontal loads that the foundation must be able to resist during the earthquake are also rather high. As a result, the interaction of the piles with the ground had to be modelled with considerable detail and sophistication.