The bridge crosses the River Tiber to connect the Olympic stadium on the west bank of the Monte Mario in the Italian capital with the Quartiere Flaminio for the first time in a 1,000 years.
Above: Rome celebrates the opening of the Buro Happold-engineered Ponte della Musica footbridge.
The new 200m-long bridge has a clear span of 130m between springing points. Two leaning steel arches support a steel deck. The arch springing points in concrete incorporate staircases providing access from the river bank to deck level.
The bridge has been designed to serve as an open public space to be used for festivals, exhibitions and fairs and has the facility to operate as a tram and bus route. The surrounding areas on either side have also been developed to create a public space.
Ponte della Musica is the outcome of an 11-year creative and professional partnership between Buro Happold‘s chief bridge engineer Davood Liaghat and London-based architect Kit Powell-Williams working with Rome-based engineering firm C Lotti e Associati. It also marks 10 years since the establishment of the Buro Happold dedicated bridges team, which was set up to develop the Ponte della Musica when Buro Happold won the 2000 Commune di Roma international design competition to design the bridge.
“We have successfully worked in collaboration with the architect and our local engineering partners over 11 years on a project that has demanded a balance of passion, flair and creativity and best-in-class robust engineering skills,” said Liaghat. “The Ponte della Musica links Rome’s most significant cultural institutions and provides ease of access for residents and visitors to enjoy the city fully.”
He will be presenting his paper Ponte della Musica: an urban bridge in Rome at the Footbridges 2011 conference in Wroclaw, Poland, on July 6th – 8th.
