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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
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 ter ...
in
Lombardy,
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 ...
, 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 a ...
. Fortified with towers, it provided access to the
Visconti Castle high above the Adda. During a siege in 1416, the
condottiero 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 ...
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, 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 of the same span was built at
Sunderland,
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 ...
in
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 ...
.
See also
*
Pont de Vieille-Brioude (54 m span)
*
Pont Grand (Tournon-sur-Rhône) (49.2 m span)
*
Castelvecchio Bridge (48.7 m span)
*
Pont du Diable (Céret)
Pont, meaning "bridge" in French, may refer to:
Places France
* Pont, Côte-d'Or, in the Côte-d'Or ''département''
* Pont-Bellanger, in the Calvados ''département''
* Pont-d'Ouilly, in the Calvados ''département''
* Pont-Farcy, in the Ca ...
(45.45 m span)
*
Nyons Bridge (40.53 m span)
*
Puente de San Martín (Toledo) (40 m span)
*
Ponte della Maddalena
Ponte della Maddalena is a bridge crossing the Serchio river near the town of Borgo a Mozzano in the Italian province of Lucca. It's one of numerous medieval bridges known as ''Ponte del Diavolo'', the " Bridge of the Devil", it was a vital river ...
(37.8 m span)
*
Pont del Diable
__NOTOC__
The Pont del Diable ( es, Puente del Diablo, en, Devil's bridge), also known as Sant Bartomeu Bridge, is a medieval bridge crossing the river Llobregat and straddling the municipalities of Martorell and Castellbisbal in Catalonia, Spai ...
(37.3 m span)
*
Dyavolski most (13 m span)
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