ABSTRACT
The bridge over the estuary of the Deva River, in the town of Deba, Basque Country, in “Guipuzcúa”, has been serving exclusively as a footbridge for pedestrians since 2013, and is a work of great heritage value, considered by the Catalogue of Bridges of before 1900 as the most representative work and that best preserves, at provincial level, the character of bridge architecture of the second half of the nineteenth century. The bridge (1866), which until the construction of the new junction in 2006 served as a connection of roads N-634 and GI-638, has suffered several episodes of settlement in its foundation throughout its history. It has been studied in recent years as a consequence of the settlements observed in the piers and their importance within the regional transport network. On July 5, 2018, the vertical settlement of one meter and the longitudinal rotation of the central pile occurred. These deformations caused damage to the entire bridge, mainly to the two central vaults, starts on the pile accompanied its movement and suffered displacements, torsions, loss of pieces and cracking. There was also a great depression in the carriageway and the loss of part of the downstream parapet. Firstly, the actions aimed at stabilizing the structure in its current situation will be undertaken, preventing it from collapsing. In a second phase, work will be carried out to restore the original geometry of the bridge for its commissioning. This article analyzes the recent experience in the rehabilitation of a unique 19th century masonry bridge. This differentiated rehabilitation required the development of very specific works in an extremely valuable environment from an environmental point of view. This is why some innovative actions are explained to mitigate the different sources of risk during the works on the site.
