Iron bridges for Rome, the capital of the Kingdom of Italy
Author(s): |
Renato Morganti
Alessandra Tosone Matteo Abita Danilo Di Donato |
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Medium: | conference paper |
Language(s): | English |
Conference: | 6th International Congress on Construction History (6ICCH 2018), July 9-13, 2018, Brussels, Belgium |
Published in: | Building Knowledge, Constructing Histories [2 vols.] |
Page(s): | 943-950 |
Year: | 2018 |
Abstract: | In 1871, ten years after the foundation of the Kingdom of Italy, Rome was officially declared the nation's capital. Historical masonry bridges of the city were no longer sufficient to guarantee a suitable crossing network. The need to quickly build new connections involved the construction of several bridges using wrought-iron and steel, employing for the first time a national construction process in order to affirm the autonomy of the young Kingdom, and in some cases taking care for their architectural design, in order to reach as much as possible the assonance with a precious historical context characterized by bricks and travertine panorama. Unfortunately, in the twentieth century most of these bridges were gradually replaced, losing a valuable heritage which was strongly linked to the construction scenario of the time and that marked a crucial period for the growth of a new European capital. |