Bridges presentation
the world, with a central span of 172ft (52m) and two lateral arches of 131ft (40m). In 1912,
Hennebique set a new world record with a bridge over the Tiber in Rome (Italy) with a span of 328ft
(100m). Other important three-span bridges with impressive central spans were built in France by
Eugène Freyssinet, such as the bridges at Veurdre (1910) and Boutiron (1912).
In France, where much of the original thinking on reinforced concrete occurred, the record span was
the Saint-Pierre du Vauvray Bridge (1922) by Freyssinet. He perfected the technique of prestressing
concrete by inserting hydraulic rams in a gap left at the crown of arches, then activating the rams to
lift the arches off the falsework and filling the gap with concrete, leaving only permanent
compressive stresses in the arches. The Vauvray Bridge over the Seine was the record span at 430ft
(131m), the deck being hung from hollow cellular arch ribs on wire hangers, coated with cement
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