Analysis of brittle failure of prestressed bridge in the north of Slovakia

This paper is focused on the primary causes of failures and collapse state of the concrete bridge superstructure located in the north of Slovakia. It is situated on the international route I/59 connecting Slovakia with Poland and registered at No. 59-090. Dangerous structural defects of brittle character were found in four girders of the bridge structure during the routine inspection in 2015. Subsequently, it was declared as being in the emergency status and immediately closed for the traffic at the end of 2015. This bridge was built in 1956 as a bridge of the first generation of the precast and prestressed structures in Czechoslovakia.