DYWIDAG Solutions for Krystallopigi Bridge in Greece

Krystallopigi Bridge, part of the Egnatia Freeway project, Neochori Thesprotias, Greece

687 km of roads, tunnels, bridges, over-and underpasses will soon link Greece from Igoumenitsa in the West via Thessaloniki along the Aegean Coast to Alexandroupoli and Kipi at the Turkish border in the East. The overall project "Egnatia Freeway" is scheduled for completion by the year 2007.

Construction of the Krystallopigi Bridge, the second longest bridge in the project, began in May 2001. The structure consists of two independent bridges with a width of 13 m each, the southern bridge from Igoumenitsa to Ioannina with a total length of 849.60 m and the northern bridge, from Ioannina to Igoumenitsa with a total length of 637.20 m. The southern bridge is designed on a radius of 450 m and the northern one on two different radii:
R1 =488.25 m and R2 =476.25 m.
For both bridges there is a continuous grade of 5.5 %and 6 %,respectively.

Both bridges are constructed with a moveable scaffolding system of 55 m span, the largest in Greece and one of the largest in the world. For post-tensioning of the bridge superstructure the DYWIDAG Strand Post-Tensioning System with anchorages type MA and couplers type R and D all for 22-15.7 mm tendons of grade 1570/1770 N/mm² was selected.In total 16 DYWIDAG Multistrand Post-Tensioning Tendons are distributed over the cross-section of the superstructure. In addition GEWI ^® Reinforcement Systems and DYWIDAG Smooth Bar Tendons were incorporated into the structure.


The northern bridge was successfully completed and the southern one is scheduled for completion in October 2003.