Assessment of the 2014 structural collapse of Batalha dos Guararapes viaduct, Brazil

Abstract

The urban viaduct Olimpio Mourão Filho in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, also known as Batalha dos Guararapes viaduct, partly collapsed while under construction in July 2014, killing two people. The 375 m structure consists of seven box-section spans that were concreted on-site and prestressed with post-tensioned cables. A week after the end of the central part shoring was removed, a central column and two adjacent spans collapsed onto the road below, killing two people. No additional loads had been applied from the beginning of the shoring removal until the collapse. This paper describes the viaduct project and analyses the reasons that led to the collapse. The collapsed column was supported by ten 0·8 m dia. piles. The failure occurred abruptly and was caused by insufficient longitudinal reinforcement of the pile cap block. At the time of the collapse, the column load was fully transferred to the two central piles, driving them 7·5 m into the ground and leading to the viaduct collapse.