Spatial Plates Structures Behavior: The Case Study of the Control Tower of Swiss Railways in Pollegio – CH

The proposed case study is the control tower of Swiss Railways in Pollegio - the railway sector with the 50 km long Gotthardtunnel through the Alps. The structure is the result of a competition held in 2006, the construction has been completed in 2014 and it is until now under deformation control. The control tower’s periscope shape, with an asymmetrical upper box and a solid lower shaft, is the direct result of the load-bearing structure being made of prestressed reinforced concrete plates. The shape resulted from specific choices made in the early design stages together with the architects. The structure is a complex spatial system that works three-dimensionally and required many different and detailed studies. In this paper, we will present the overall design process. That process began with the traditional analysis methods based on graphic statics and tension fields refined with finite element analysis that confirmed the important interactions between the multiple structural elements. Those interactions were ultimately validated by the results obtained from continuously monitoring the structure from the construction phase to the present day.