The SIJLAB Joint Laboratory and the design of a prototype Archimedes Bridge

In the paper the activity performed within the SIJLAB project(Sino-Italian Joint Laboratory of Archimedes Bridge) for the design of the first Archimedes Bridge to be built in the world are summarized. The prototype (100 m long with a tunnel section having an external diameter of 4.4 m) will be installed in a lake and initially used as a full-size laboratory for performing experiments on structural behaviour and on fluid-structure interaction phenomena; subsequently it will become a tourist attraction. Here criteria and solution adopted in the design, both at the section level and for the overall structural scheme are reviewed, along with the load conditions and the methods for structural analyses.