Carbonation test
Introduction
The Pedro de Valdivia Bridge is a structure built between 1938 and 1953. This structure is located in the city of Valdivia that connects the city with Isla Teja. The work crosses the Valdivia River and is named in honor of the city's founder Pedro de Valdivia, a Spanish conquistador.
This bridge has a length of 238.7 meters and 10.5 meters wide, of which 7 meters correspond to the road and 2 pedestrian walkways of 1.8 meters each. For construction, there was a budget of around $12,834,453 Chilean pesos. The construction of this bridge improved the connectivity of the city and the flow between the different areas of Valdivia in addition to modernizing it. The design and execution of the work also reflect the engineering capabilities of mid-century Chile, taking into account the nature and distinguished geographical conditions of the city of Valdivia.
Structures and construction materials
The Pedro de Valdivia Bridge in terms of structure contains a total of 5 spans. It has a central section made up of 3 spans and 2 side spans of about 35 meters. The 3 central spans are distributed in spans of approximately 69 meters and 50 meters on the sides. (Garrido, 2018).
The central section is a multicellular reinforced concrete box-type deck with variable depth. Also in this central span, 2 hinges have been arranged with a separation of 19.15 meters from the piles that transform it into a Gerber-type beam. This same box consists of 2 cells, except for the voussoirs on each side closest to the central piles. The height of the box ranges between 1.93 meters and 7.98 meters. The stiffening of the structure was carried out using transverse reinforced concrete diaphragms, dividing the beam into voussoirs, varying the length between 4.5 meters and 5 meters.
The lateral access spans are made up of 4 mixed type beams (steel and concrete), these were built during the repair that the bridge suffered after the great earthquake of 1960.
Regarding the batteries contained in the work, they are of 2 types. Piles 1 and 4 are of the box type that surround the original columns of the Pedro de Valdivia bridge, on the other hand, piles 2 and 3 are original to the bridge, these are wall type, made of a solid section of reinforced concrete. (Garrido, 2018).
Regarding the materials used only for the construction of the Pedro de Valdivia bridge, there is reinforced concrete that was used for the main structure and the multicellular caissons, structural steel was also used which formed the internal structure of the work, aggregates on the other hand for the manufacture of the aforementioned concrete and finally the asphalt used to form the layer of pavement on which the vehicles will circulate (Ramos. ., 2025).