Engineering development and research projects

The Ing. Lino Gentilini Foundation aims to ignite and sustain engineering education and research. Its activity is inspired by the historical and cultural preservation of the comprehensive engineering work performed by Ing. Lino Gentilini.

The main operational activities of the Foundation are the historical preservation of infrastructural design documentation and the support of education initiatives and engineering development and research projects.

HISTORY AND DESIGN OF LARGE STRUCTURES

The history of the engineering work of Lino Gentilini starts at the Italian National Committee of Nuclear Research in Ispra (Milan) and National Committee of Nuclear Energy in Casaccia (Rome) where he designs a simulator and the internal structures of nuclear reactors from 1958

Starting in the early sixties at SEPI, Trento, he carries out the calculations for more than 1,000 civil infrastructures with special focus on bridges and viaducts and publishes several works in the field of structures in precompressed reinforced concrete. At SEPI he also founds one of the first engineering computing centers where he develops several innovative codes for bridge design using an IBM 1130 based computing system connected with an IBM 370-145.

With an innovative spirit always trying to find new and environmentally friendly solutions among others works he designs all the viaducts and bridges of the Brenner motorway A 22 (e.g. Ponticolo, Colle Isarco, Ceppara, Fortezza, Campodazzo, Micheletti, Bolzano ed il ponte sul Po), of the Brescia-Cremona-Piacenza motorway A 21 ( Castelvetro bridge), of the Zagreb-Split and Zagreb-Belgrade motorways, of the Sarajevo-Adriatic sea motorway, the third lane of the Brescia-Padova motorway, some sections of the A 14, A 23, A 26 and A 27 Italian motorways, the ring roads of Ravenna, Reggo-Emilia, Trieste, Verona, Vicenza, Trento, Riva del Garda, Veggia e Sassulo, Arco, Bassano, Mantova, Brescia, and Bolzano-Merano.

In the area of ​​road design he implemented numerous sections of state roads: "SS7" at Ciampino, "SS12" at Colle Isarco, Campodazzo, Prato Isarco, Bolzano, Rovereto, Marco, Lavis, Trento and Calliano, "SS9" in Reggio Emilia, "SS347" between Agordo and Fiera di Primiero, "SS38" between Meran and Avelegno, "SS237" Cimego-Darzo, Limarò-Comano, and in Sarche, "SS36" from Lecco, "SS508" Sarentinon, "SS49" in Sciaves, "SS47" Ponte Alto- Pergine S. Cristoforo and Bassano-Solan, "SS248" in Marostica, "SS45 bis" near Cadine and Arco-Trento, "SS113" at Termini Imerese, "SS43" between Rocchetta and Mollaro, "SS42" Malè-Dimaro, "SS621" in Val Aurina and "SP90" at La Rupe area.

In the railway sector, twe recall the preliminary study for the Brenner railway tunnel and the design of railway bridges in Bolzano South, Fortezza, Perca and Fleres. Finally as part of the building and industrial plants design, the following artifacts are included: the University of Economics in Trento, the Lagos parliament complex in Nigeria, commercial buildings in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, two terminals for sugar storage in Lautoka and Malau in Fiji, the cement plan of Samatzai in Sardinia, the restructuring of cement plants in Femmine islands and Vibo Valentia, the expansion of the paper mills in Riva del Garda, ITALSI industrial plants for prestressed concrete in Trento, CMC in Pievesestina and VIADUKT in Pojatno (Croatia), and intermodal freight area of Trento.

Bridge on the Noce River close to Rupe, Trento

1982-1984 (80 m)

A 'tunnel' on the Noce river - Single beam self-supporting bridge with wave-shaped structural elements The structure by night - Internal view of the bridge

Ponticolo Viaduct

1964-1972 (1425 m)

Piers consturction - Light crosssection piers: height up to 65 m Completed viaduct - The motorway section between Colle Isarco e Brennero

Colle Isarco Viaduct

1964-1972 (1425 m)

Panoramic view - 163 m long central span built using cantilevered beams with maximum height 110 m The viaduct and the landscape - The whole viaduct in harmony with the alpine landscape and completed within 28 months Bottom view - Piers construction with portals joined on the bottom and mullions converging to the upper side Beam installation - Installation of the beams of the central spans Finished viaduct - Viaduct during winter with total legnth of 1030 m Middle view - Parallel construction of one of the double cantilevered beams 166 m long

Ceppara Viaduct

1964-1972 (416 m)

The motorway climbs - The uphill between Vipiteno and Colle Isarco with a 4% average slope The viaduct and the mountain - The harmony between the structures and the alpine landscape

Viaduct crossing the Fortezza lake

1964-1972 (440 m) - Schematic

Bridge over the Fortezza Lake The bridge - Bridge crossing the artificial Fortezza lake Foundation well - Excavation of the 80 sqm wells sheltered by the fozen wall An ingenious solution - Freezing of the lake water and soil using liquid nitrogen

Viadotto Campodazzo

1964-1972 (2412 m) - Schematic

Piers casting - 30 to 55 m high piers built using climbing falsework in special footing houses used to stabilize the surrounding terrain Aerial view of the viduct and the river - The graceful shape of the viaduct nearby the Eisack river: 2,412 m long, dived into 69 spans spacing 35 m Footing house - Footing house extending up to 25 m below the riverbed Selfmoving workyard - In situ deck fabrication at 35 meters every 9 days speed under any climatic conditions

Micheletti 2 Viaduct

1964-1972 (1503 m)

A narrow valley - The viaducts softly runs along the mountainside The viaduct - Top view of the viaduct in the motorway section between Bolzano and Chiusa Viaduct deck - 22.10 m wide deck costitued by reinforced prestressed slabs Beam installation - Bottom view of the four precasted beams for each span of the viaduct Almost completed structure - Installation of the last missing beams Piers construction - Piers casting using climbing falsework

Viaduct crossing the city of Bolzano

1964-1972 (2480 m) - Schematic

Construction of the viaduct - View of the piers and the advancing deck Along the river - The viaduct along the Eisack riverbed Beam moving scaffhold - Precasted beam sections connected using pre-stress cables and placed using a moving scaffhold Piers with reduced width - 5 m wide pier crossection at the base compared to the 24m wide deck to minimize the used city soil Crossing the city - Panormic view of the city of Bolzano and the completed motorway viaduct Along the river - The viaduct along the Eisack riverbed

Bridge on the Po river south of Mantova

1964-1972 (870 m)

Beam installation - Launching bridge without centres and temporary supports Aerial view - View of the Padana plain and the motorway bridge on the Po river

Bridge on the Po river close to Castelvetro

1979-1972 (1675 m) - Scheda tecnica

Piers in the riverbed - View of the piers during a flood of the Po river Launching bridge - Deck constitued by Gerber pre-stressed concrete beams supported by reinforced concrete piers. View of the sytem used to precast and launch the beams in situ. Concrete transport system - Rafts used to transport the concrete to the piers locations Piers casting - Piers casting in the middle of the river Pre-stressed concrete beams - Beams up to 86.5 m long, 4.1 m wide, and weigh up to 440 t Piers in the floodplain - Extension of the bridge in the floodplain with tapered piers during a flood

Overbridges Brescia-Piacenza-Cremona motorway

1968-1971

Single arc - Overbridge with two beams supported by a single arc central pier Light piers with inverted arc shape - Overbridges with central piers showing an inverted arc design Triple arc - Overbridge with four beams supported by a triple arc central pier Double arc - Overbridge with three beams supported by a double arc central pier

Samatzai cement plant

1970-1973

Silos - 14,000 t capacity cement silos The plant - Samatzai e Nuraminis (Ca) cement plant Foundations - Plant foundations building phase Steel structures - Production line installation

Brenner motorway

1964-1972 - Schematic

Brenner motorway close to Ala, Trento Vodi Bridge - Aerial view of the bridge crossing the Aviso River close to the Vodi location (930 m) Chiusa Exit- Exit showing an innovative layout in the narrow Eisack valley San Michele interchange - Image of the S.Michele-Mezzocorona interchange north of Trento Demanding stretch north of Bolzano - Sequence of the Renon viaduct (295 m) - the Chiusalta tunnel (236 m) - the Collepietra viaduct (327m) to cross a sharp bend of the Eisack valley The motorway and the river - Winter image of the motorway crossing the Rotaliana

Bulk sugar terminal Lautoka (Fiji Islands)

1978-1984

Casting of the foundations - Terminal designed for a storage of 60,000 tons Reinforced concrete piles - Deep foundation with reinforced concrete piles Beam support Beam ending for pin support On of the beams supporting the roof of the sugar terminal - Roofing capable to withstand tropical storms Beam support