DESCRIPTION

In 1963-1970 on the river Hornád southeast of the village of Margecany in easter part of Slovakia a Ružín dam reservoir was built. Is a system of two hydraulic structures Ružín I and Ružín II, source of water for industry and thermal power generation. The reservoir has a storage volume of 45.3 million cubic metres and the flooded area is 3.9 square kilometres. The length of the dam is 14 kilometres The railway viaduct Ružín N°2601 cross the reservoir in km 125,541.

The railway viaduct was designed in 1952 and built between the years 1952 and 1955. The loading test was carried out by Ministry of transport of Czechoslovakia on 21 th and 22 th June 1955. With the height of 40 meters above the water level, it is the highest railway bridge in Slovakia. It is the largest bridge on the Slovak railways line number 180 Žilina – Košice. It is a double electrified track.

The bridge is designed as steel riveted truss bridge with the lower bridge deck of four spans, each of 69.0 m long, with the total length of 280.0 meters. Verticals have the same lengths 7400 mm, bottom and top chords are 5750 mm long. The beam has a superelevation varies from zero to 62 mm. The main truss beams are of oblique angled system with the incidental verticals. Transversal beams are embedded into the top chords of main beams, supporting the transversal beams. The total weight of the steel structure is 2800 tons. The concrete supports and pillars have a stone cladding of lined andesite masonry.

INSPECTION

The last detailed inspection of the bridge was made in December 2020. The main truss beams are of oblique angled system with the incidental verticals. Transversal beams are embedded into the top chords of main beams, supporting the transversal beams. The total weight of the steel structure is 2800t. The concrete supports and pillars have a stone cladding of lined andesite masonry. Truss beam elements are riveted.

Four beams are simply supported, the spacing between each single span is 410mm. On the lower chord of the beam there is inspection bench which allows safe movement inside the construction. The steel construction shows normal abrasion.
Anti-corrosion protection degrades on horizontal surfaces and in exposed areas of the structure (connections stringers, crossbeam, and main girders, joints plates) where steel corrosion occurs. More significant failures – cracks and weakening by corrosion is in the wall plates of the connection of the longitudinal member to the transversal beam. In rare cases, rivets and screws are loosened. Rare fatigue cracks on the upper flanges of the stringers in the bearing of the bridge decks are present. Bearings are functional with surface corrosion. Concrete parts of the substructure is damaged with surface cracks. Facing stone are locally not jointed with the present of the local dimensional deviations. The current condition of the bridge is evaluated according to the ŽSR TS5 regulation as grade 3 – satisfactory for supporting structure and clearence gauge and as 2 good for bridge foundations and sleepers.

MODEL

In progress.