Structural and Seismic Investigation on Historical Papaz Bridge in Turkey

Abstract

<p>Hosting several great civilizations such as Ottomans and Roman Empire, Turkey and especially Istanbul city inherited huge number of structural heritages including mosques, bridges, palaces, churches, traditional baths, school buildings and so on. Therefore, a challenging issue appears for preservation and transferring them to the next generations considering sustainability subject. To perform a convenient intervention for restoring such structures, understanding structural behaviour is a key matter. In order to contribute that, a historical stone masonry bridge was investigated to understand its structural and seismic behaviour. A site survey was carried out and the structural deficiencies of the bridge were determined. Then, 3D structural FE model through DIANA software was prepared and analyzed under vertical and seismic loads. The results are discussed in terms of modal characteristics, stress distribution as well as displacement values.</p>