APPLICATION OF THE BAILEY BRIDGES IN POST-EARTHQUAKE INTERVENTIONS

After an earthquake, the availability of transport corridors must be guaranteed to allow the evacuation of the population and the unhindered passage of rescue vehicles. Bridges are crucial in any transport network and can be damaged, partially or completely collapsed during an earthquake. On the other hand, in such circumstances, it is important to ensure fast and safe passage of people and goods over obstacles. Bailey bridges are prefabricated systems that enable quick and temporary passage and are used by many armies around the world, including the Croatian army. Possible applications of Bailey bridges after the strong earthquake presented in this paper are: (i) construction of Bailey bridge at the site of an existing bridge that collapsed during the earthquake; (ii) construction of Bailey bridge at an unprepared crossing, (iii) partial bridging of one or more spans of a destroyed bridge, (iv) strengthening of an existing bridge pier with Bailey truss elements, (v) construction of a new support (pier) for the superstructure with Bailey truss elements, (vi) Bailey bridges on barges. In addition to the theoretical possibilities, several case studies – Bailey bridges recently constructed by Croatian Army will be presented: Bailey bridge in Donja Stubica, Bailey bridge over Korana River near Karlovac, Bailey bridge near Marija Bistrica in Croatia, and Bailey Bridge over Dreta River In Slovenia.