The Solkan Bridge ( sl, Solkanski most, it, Ponte di Salcano) is a

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

over the Soča River near

Nova Gorica A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

in western

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

(by railway terminology it is a viaduct). With an arch span of , it is the world's longest stone arch railroad bridge (and second-longest stone arch bridge, after Germany's , a road bridge). It holds this record because later construction technology used reinforced concrete to build bridges. It was originally built to carry the

Bohinj Railway The Bohinj Railway ( sl, Bohinjska proga, it, Transalpina, german: Wocheiner Bahn) is a railway in Slovenia and Italy. It connects Jesenice in Slovenia with Trieste in Italy. It was built by Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1906 as a part of a new ...

in the time of the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austr ...

, between 1900 and 1905, and officially opened in 1906.

Description

The bridge was designed by the architect Rudolf Jaussner and engineer Leopold Oerley, initially with an stone arch. The bridge was built by the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

construction company Brüder Redlich und Berger between 1904 and 1905. In the spring of 1904 the builders had to change the project because of the light soil and increased the arch to . It is built of 4,533 stone blocks. On July 19, 1906, the

( sl, Bohinjska proga, it, Transalpina, german: Wocheiner Bahn) from

Jesenice Jesenice (, german: Aßling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is a Slovenian town and the seat of the Municipality of Jesenice on the ...

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...

was inaugurated (the Austrian heir

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fr ...

travelled across the bridge). In August 1916, during the First World War, Austrian soldiers destroyed the bridge (using of Ecrasite) as they left

Solkan Solkan ( or ; it, Salcano, german: link=no, Sollingen or ''Salcano'') is a settlement in the Municipality of Nova Gorica in the Gorizia region of western Slovenia, at the border with Italy. Although it forms a single urban area with the city of ...

to prevent the invading forces from using it. After the 12. Isonzo battle the Austrian army built a steel construction where the bridge once stood.Bildarchiv Austria https://onb.wg.picturemaxx.com/?16756386081222671803 After the war in April 1925 the Italians started to build a new bridge, which was finished in 1927. This bridge was very similar to the first one, with the exception of having only four sub-arches instead of the original five. During the Second World War the bridge suffered only minimal damage from bomb attacks. On August 10, 1944, bombs did not hit the bridge; on March 15, 1945, a bomb that hit the bridge did not explode.

Literature

* Gorazd Humar: ''Kamniti velikan na Soči.'' Branko, Nova Gorica 1996, . * Gorazd Humar, Bogdan Kladnik: ''Slovenski Mostovi: Bridges of Slovenia.'' Teil 2: ''Štajerska, Dolenjska, Gorenjska, Prekmurje.'' Zaklad, Ljubljana 2002, . * Eduard Jordan (2013)
Der Eisbahnviadukt von Solkan/Salcano
* Walther Schaumann: ''Die Bahnen zwischen Ortler und Isonzo 1914 - 1918. Vom Friedensfahrplan zur Kriegsfahrordnung''. Bohmann Verlag, Wien 1991.

References

External links

* Railway bridges in Slovenia Viaducts in Slovenia Arch bridges in Slovenia Bridges completed in 1905 City Municipality of Nova Gorica Bridges over the Soča Buildings and structures in the Slovenian Littoral Soča Valley Stone arch bridges 1905 establishments in Austria-Hungary {{Slovenia-bridge-struct-stub