ABSTRACT
Numerous railway masonry arch bridges located in regions with high seismic hazard, are still part of the Italian railway networks. In order to increase the safety level of masonry bridges with respect to the seismic action, as it is required by the Italian technical Standards (NTC2018), strengthening interventions are necessary. The use of FRCM (Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix) system applied onto the masonry arch intrados represents an alternative to the traditional retrofit techniques common used in the past. This strengthening method allows to increase the masonry bridge capacity without changing: the weight, the geometry and the stiffness of the structure. Moreover, the railway line can still in service during the realization of the strengthening intervention. In this work, based on the results obtained from experimental tests, a simplified numerical approach is calibrated for the evaluation of the load carrying capacity of masonry arch bridges strengthened with FRCM system applied onto arch intrados. The calibration process provides simple and practical guidelines for modelling masonry bridges strengthened with FRCM.
