Ponte Amerigo Vespucci is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

over the

Arno River The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and named after Florence-born explorer Amerigo Vespucci. It joins the Lungarno Amerigo Vespucci to the Lungarno Soderini. To the east is the

Ponte alla Carraia The Ponte alla Carraia is a five-arched bridge spanning the River Arno and linking the district of Oltrarno to the rest of the city of Florence, Italy. To the west is a weir, the Pescaia di Santa Rosa, and the Ponte Amerigo Vespucci, and to the ...

. This bridge, like most of the other bridges over the Arno, is a reconstruction. Plans were made in 1908 to bridge this section of the Arno to service quartiere di San Frediano, but the plans were never realized. In 1949, a bridge, ponte di via Melegnano, was constructed from the recycled remains of other bridges that had been destroyed by the

Nazi army The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

as they withdrew before the advancing Allied forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Between 1952 and 1954, a competition for the construction of a new bridge was held, and the plan of the architects George Giuseppe Gori, Enzo Gori and Ernesto Nelli and of engineer

Riccardo Morandi Riccardo Morandi visiting Palace of Justice Competition. Riccardo Morandi (1 September 1902 – 25 December 1989) was an Italian civil engineer best known for his innovative use of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete, although over the ...

was chosen. The plan called for three

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

s in a thin, flat

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

over two

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s which supports the roadway. The final effect gives the impression of a single, slightly curved span. Construction on the bridge was completed in 1957. It was designed to be reflective of the nearby historical structures but also to be an obviously modern structure.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amerigo Vespucci Bridges in Florence Bridges completed in 1957 Modernist architecture in Italy Rebuilt buildings and structures