New half-century bridge

2001/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Arkitektura

In 1502, the Italian Leonardo Da Vinci designed a bridge for the Turkish sultan Bajazet II. The sultan's engineers, after reviewing the design, decided that it was impossible to build it. Half a century later, in the Norwegian city of Aas near Oslo, Da Vinci's project has become a reality.

In its original design, no classical arches appear to support the bridge; the Italian proposed the use of three arches of the same size as the bridge, two of them inclined towards the interior of the bridge.

The bridge built in Aas is smaller than that designed by Da Vinci, but the basic structure is the same – one of the arches holds the bridge below and the other two separate the weight on each side. According to the architects who have made this project a reality, also at the time of Da Vinci, the bridge could be made, but it would have been too expensive for only one person to pay for it.