Ponte della Costituzione - Venezia, Italy
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N 45° 26.331 E 012° 19.165
33T E 290349 N 5035198
Opened to the public in September 2008, the Ponte della Costituzione (English: Constitution Bridge) is the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.
Waymark Code: WMWY9T
Location: Veneto, Italy
Date Posted: 10/29/2017
Views: 5
From Wikipedia: "The Ponte della Costituzione was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and was moved into place in 2007 (connecting Stazione di Santa Lucia to Piazzale Roma), amid protest by politicians and the general public. The bridge was known as Quarto Ponte sul Canal Grande before the official name was adopted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Italian constitution in 2008. Tourists and locals in Venice now refer to it as the Calatrava Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Calatrava).
The bridge has received heated criticism and seen inauguration delays and walk-outs, which originated from three main grievances: the lack of wheelchair access, lack of necessity and its modernist-minimalist style being incompatible with Venice's decorative medieval architecture.
Calatrava designed an arched truss bridge with a radius of 180 metres (590 ft), with a central arch, two side arches and two lower arches. Girders placed perpendicular to the arches join them together. The girders consist of steel tubes and plates, which form closed section boxes. The stairway on the bridge is paved with pietra d'Istria, a stone traditionally used in Venice, alternating with tempered glass steps illuminated from below by fluorescent lights. The parapet is also tempered glass, terminating in a bronze handrail with concealed lighting.
The contractor which had the task of constructing the footbridge was Cignoni. Design and installation studies were carried out by a specialized group: professors Renato Vitaliani (Padua University) and Francesco Colleselli (Brescia University) for geotechnical and foundation aspects, the company Mastropasqua-Zanchin & Associates Structural Engineering for the steel arch and weldings verification, Fagioli Group and Giorgio Romaro (Padua University) for the installation activities." (
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