The “Viadotto dell’Industria” (''Industry viaduct''), also known as "Bridge over the Basento" river or Musmeci Bridge, connects

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

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, and built between 1971 and 1976, the bridge perfectly incarnates Musmeci's architectural theories. The structure cost about 920,000,000

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

s (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 Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

(about thick) molded to form four contiguous arches. 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. The bridge was built without using prefabricated elements, but only shuttering of concrete. 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 The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MOHT) is the governmental body in the Sultanate of Oman responsible for promoting and preserving Omani heritage and tourism. The current Minister of Heritage and Tourism is Salem bin Mohammed Al Mahrooqi ...

as an example of architecture from the 20th century in the

MAXXI MAXXI ( it, Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, italic=no, "national museum of 21st-century arts") is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome, Italy. The museum is managed by a foundation ...

(The National Museum of the 21st Century Arts,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

). In 2003, the bridge was declared a “monument of cultural interest” by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

References

External links

Sergio Musmeci's funky concrete bridgeConcrete truth - Basento Bridge photo gallery
{{coord, 40.6278, N, 15.8058, E, source:wikidata, display=title Bridges in Italy

See also

References

External links