Realization and launching of the Adda-Bitto Viaduct in Italy

In Valtellina near Sondrio, a large viaduct is to be built which will permit overpassing the town of Morbegno more quickly. Given the impossibility of carrying out installation operations using cranes from the ground and to limit the environmental interferences due to the presence of two rivers, the erection method was by launching, starting from an abutment towards the opposite one. The launching activities covered only the steel part of the deck, 167 m long, overpassing the Bitto stream and the River Adda, while the remaining portions of the deck, located near the abutments, were assembled, after completion of the launch, by crane from the ground.