The Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge or Trezzo Bridge was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

bridge at

Trezzo sull'Adda Trezzo sull'Adda (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan on the Adda River. The Naviglio Martesana canal starts from the Adda in Trezzo's terr ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

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 ...

, spanning the Adda river. Completed in 1377, the single-arch bridge held the record for the largest span for over four hundred years, until the beginnings of the Industrial Age, while it was not until the early 20th century that masonry bridges with larger openings were constructed.

History

The Trezzo Bridge was built between 1370 and 1377 by order of the lord of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Bernabò Visconti Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he an ...

. Fortified with towers, it provided access to the Visconti Castle high above the Adda. During a siege in 1416, the

condottiero ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...

Carmagnola Carmagnola (; pms, Carmagnòla ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located south of Turin. The town is on the right side of the Po river. The nature of the soil determined over t ...

deliberately caused the structure to collapse by weakening one of its

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s. Its single arch featured a span of , according to other sources even as much as . By comparison, the second largest pre-industrial bridge vault, the French

Pont de Vieille-Brioude Pont de Vieille-Brioude (Vieille-Brioude Bridge) is located in France, crossing the river Allier. It is a masonry arch bridge with a span of that was built in 1832. The predecessor of this bridge on the same site was probably built in 1479 and ha ...

, spans . The rise of the segmental arch was ca. , with a span-to-rise ratio of 3.3:1. The arch rip, measured at the springing, was thick, corresponding to a favourable ratio of rib thickness to clear span of only 1/32. The sandstone bridge was almost wide. Today, the two abutments with overhanging remnants of the arch vault are all that remain. The Trezzo Bridge was not matched until the metal

Wearmouth Bridge Wearmouth Bridge is a through arch bridge across the River Wear in Sunderland. It is the final bridge over the river before its mouth with the North Sea. Original bridge The original Wearmouth Bridge was designed by Thomas Paine and opened in ...

of the same span was built at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1796. Longer masonry arch spans were not achieved until the 1903

Adolphe Bridge The Adolphe Bridge ( lb, Adolphe-Bréck, french: Pont Adolphe, german: Adolphe-Brücke) is a double-decked arch bridge in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The bridge provides a one-way route for road traffic across the Pétrusse, from ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

References

Sources

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External links

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''Lombardia Beni Culturali – Ponte fortificato (ruderi), Trezzo sull'Adda (MI)''
{{Visconti of Milan Buildings and structures in the Province of Milan Bridges in Lombardy Buildings and structures completed in 1377 Deck arch bridges Stone bridges in Italy Demolished bridges Bridges completed in the 14th century

History

See also

References

Sources

External links