Buro Happold proud to be part of winning bridge design team
Construction of Ponte della Musica, a new dual purpose pedestrian and public transport bridge crossing the substantial River Tiber in Rome, is due to begin early this year and will take 18 months to complete.
The bridge is a key part of the Rome city plan which involves the development of a new east-west axis along the Via Guido Reni on the east bank of the Tiber. It will connect the various cultural and sporting facilities of the Flaminio district with the Olympic stadium and other sports facilities on the west bank in Monte Mario.
Assessore Roberto Morassutt, representative for the City Planning Department, said: “The construction of Ponte della Musica is part of an important infrastructure, able to improve the public circulation as a whole dynamic system typical in urban areas, including pedestrian and cycle ways. It has been expected in urban planning since 1931. It has an enormous cultural and urban value; the area, set along the town circumference, will become a great public space for cultural events in facilities such as the Auditorium and the new MAXXI gallery.”
International multi-disciplinary consulting engineer Buro Happold was part of the competition winning design team, providing bridge, infrastructure and transport engineering for the project.
Buro Happold technical director and project leader, Davood Liaghat said: “Designing and building a bridge in Rome is any engineer’s dream. It embodies fantastic engineering; simplicity, elegance and functionality. We are very proud to have worked with a professional team of client, architect and engineer and look forward to the day when the bridge is opened to the public.”
The scheme consists of two inclined steel arches supporting a steel deck. The arch springings, designed in concrete, incorporate staircases providing secondary access from the lower river banks. Primarily, the bridge has been designed for pedestrians but it also allows for future conversion that will accommodate vehicular and tram loading.
Buro Happold’s scheme was developed in collaboration with Powell-Williams Architects and emerged as the winner of an international design competition organised by the Comune di Roma. The project will be undertaken with C Lotti and Associati, a civil engineering practice based in Rome
Once finished, this contemporary new crossing will measure approximately 200m long with a clear span of around 150m.
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Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976 offering civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building services and environmental engineering, health and safety management, infrastructure and traffic engineering, ground engineering, façade engineering, fire engineering, computational fluid dynamics analysis, inclusive design consultancy, project management, urban design and a range of specialist CAD services.
