Musmeci Bridge

Musmeci Bridge

Ponte Musmeci
Ponte Musmeci (Potenza)
Coordinates40°38′N 15°49′E / 40.63°N 15.81°E / 40.63; 15.81
CrossesBasento and Potenza Centrale railway station
LocalePotenza, Italy
Official namePonte dell'industria
Other name(s)Ponte sul Basento
Heritage statusMonument of cultural interest
Characteristics
DesignSergio Musmeci
MaterialReinforced concrete
Total length560 m (1,837 ft)
Width16 m (52 ft)
History
ArchitectSergio Musmeci
Constructed byEdilstrade Forlì-Castrocaro
Construction start1971
Construction end1976
Construction cost920,000,000 ITL
Opened1976
Location
Map

The “Viadotto dell’Industria” (Industry viaduct),[1] also known as "Bridge over the Basento" river or Musmeci Bridge,[2] connects Potenza city centre exit on the Sicignano-Potenza motorway with the main access roads in the southern part of the city, which is in Italy.

Designed by the Italian engineer Sergio Musmeci in 1967,[3] and built between 1971 and 1976, the bridge perfectly incarnates Musmeci's architectural theories. The structure cost about 920,000,000 Italian liras (equivalent to €4,000,000 in 2016).

The structure's uniqueness is due to its construction: it is made of only one membrane of reinforced concrete (about 30 cm (1 ft) thick) molded to form four contiguous arches.[4] The concrete sheet is shaped into a “finger-like” structure, which supports the whole bridge, and it is also used as a pedestrian walkway. Different studies performed an extended analysis and discussion on the actual structural form of the bridge over the Basento river. [5]

The bridge was built without using prefabricated elements, but only shuttering of concrete.[4] Edilstrade Forlì-Castrocaro was the company that constructed the bridge.

Projects and planimetries are collected in the “Musmeci Sergio and Zanini Zenaide archive” which in 1997 was declared of great historical interest by the Archival superintendence of Lazio. Then in 2003, it was referred by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture as an example of architecture from the 20th century in the MAXXI (The National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome).[6] In 2003, the bridge was declared a “monument of cultural interest” by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture.[7]

Cultural impact[edit]

The bridge inspired the virtuosic piano piece The Arching Path by Christopher Cerrone.[8]

See also[edit]

  • Rinaldo Capomolla. "Il ponte sul Basento di Sergio Musmeci. Il progetto della forma strutturale prima dell'avvento del calcolo automatico". In Alfredo Buccaro; Giulio Fabricatore; Lia Maria Papa (eds.). Atti del Primo Convegno Nazionale di Storia dell'Ingegneria. Napoli, 8-9 marzo 2006 (Tomo II) (PDF) (in Italian). pp. 1143–1152.
  • Fausto Giovannardi (2010). Sergio Musmeci. Strutture fuori dal coro (PDF) (in Italian). Giovannardierontini.
  • Luigi Spinelli (2007-10-17). "When infrastructure becomes landscape". Domus.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fausto Giovannardi (2010). Sergio Musmeci. Strutture fuori dal coro (PDF) (in Italian). Giovannardierontini.
  2. ^ "Potenza - Galleria Immagini: Ponte Musmeci". APT Basilicata (in Italian). Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  3. ^ Luigi Spinelli (2007-10-17). "When infrastructure becomes landscape". Domus.
  4. ^ a b Carmela Petrizzi. "Sergio Musmeci a Potenza: il ponte e la città" (PDF). Basilicata Regione Notizie (in Italian): 17–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  5. ^ Marmo, Francesco and Demartino, Cristoforo and Candela, Gabriele and Sulpizio, Concetta and Briseghella, Bruno and Spagnuolo, Roberto and Xiao, Yan and Vanzi, Ivo and Rosati, Luciano (2019). "On the form of the Musmeci's bridge over the Basento river". Engineering Structures. 191: 658–673. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.04.069. S2CID 164766610.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Collezioni del XX secolo - Musmeci Sergio e Zanini Zenaide". Fondazione MAXXI (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2015-11-18. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  7. ^ "Il ponte e la città. Sergio Musmeci a Potenza". Fondazione MAXXI (in Italian). 2014-10-01. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  8. ^ "The Arching Path – Christopher Cerrone". Retrieved 2024-02-09.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viadotto dell’Industria.

40°37′40″N 15°48′21″E / 40.6278°N 15.8058°E / 40.6278; 15.8058

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