The Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNGS) released impressive photos of the building of a crossing bridge by the Hellenic Army Corps of Engineers (MOMKA). The images show the difficulty of the task of installing a 50-meter-long Bailey-type metal bridge over the Arachthos River in Metsovo.
The bridge is located above the river Arachthos and is part of the provincial road Mikri Gotista – East of Ioannina in the municipality of Metsovo. The old bridge was destroyed and collapsed due to heavy rain.
The 8th company of engineers of the armed forces (MOMKA) was deployed to replace the destroyed bridge which caused serious problems for the locals to access regions over the river.
The conditions the members of the 8th company of the engineers’ corps were called to face are reflected in the photos. The Bailey metal bridge has a length of 50 metres, with a total weight of over 80 tons. The biggest problem, however, is the foundation of the bridge, since -as shown in the photos- the soils have suffered landslides and the flow of rapid waters is continuous. For the foundation of the bridge, the solution of the construction of a cantilever (a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end) thirty meters long was chosen. Simply put, the total length of the construction (metal bridge and cantilever) exceeds 80 meters.
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