Calatrava Bridge to Barge up the Grand Canal in Venice During the Night of July 27-28

VENICE, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Under cover of darkness, two large sections of the Quarto Ponte sul Canal Grande (Fourth Bridge on the Grand Canal), designed by Spanish-born architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, will move by boat along Venice's Grand Canal during the night of July 27-28, 2007, reaching their final home near the city's major railway station.

"Bridges in Venice do more than join together different parts of the city," Santiago Calatrava stated. "They serve as landmarks, meeting places, points of definition within an urban fabric that is utterly unique. This is the responsibility I have tried to fulfill, knowing that the Quarto Ponte sul Canal Grande must be a sensitive, beautiful, vital addition to Venice. I am very, very happy that we are now just hours away from seeing how this aspiration will be realized."

The barge carrying the bridge sections is scheduled to depart from Punta della Dogana at 11:59 p.m. on July 27, in order to take advantage of low tide. The trip is expected to take six to seven hours in all. During that time the Grand Canal will be closed to normal traffic. The barge will pass under the famed Rialto Bridge at approximately 3:00 a.m.

Positioning and installation of the first lateral section of the bridge near Piazzale Roma will begin at 7:00 a.m. on July 28 and continue through the day. On July 29 the section of the bridge on the opposite bank, near Stazione Santa Lucia, will be installed.

The central portion of the bridge will be moved to the site over the course of eight or nine hours beginning at 10:30 p.m. on August 7. On August 11, the three sections of the bridge will be connected, spanning the Grand Canal.

Through a public selection process, the Municipality of Venice commissioned Santiago Calatrava in November 1999 to design the new bridge. The design was approved in February 2001 and the project approved in April 2002. The process of granting permits for construction -- which understandably must be done with great care by the public authorities -- continued into 2005.

The arched, steel structure of the bridge, which is now about to be put into place, is 308 feet long (94 meters) overall, with a central span of 266 feet (81 meters), and rises from a height of 10.5 feet over the canal (3.2 meters) on the embankments to 30 feet (9.28 meters) at midpoint.

The steps and deck of the bridge will be made of alternating sections of tempered security glass and natural Istria stone, picking up the design of the existing pavement. The parapet will be entirely glass, with a glazed bronze handrail comprising its upper edge. At night, fluorescent bulbs set within the handrail will illuminate the path, adding to the stage-set effect created by illumination from below the transparent deck. Spotlights set low on the walls will illuminate the ground on either end of the bridge.

Once complete, the bridge will merge smoothly into the quays on either side. The steps and ramps are designed to add vitality to both sides of the canal, while the abutments (which are crescent-shaped) will leave pedestrians with free access to the quays. The areas at either end will act as extensions of the bridge, creating new celebratory spaces for Venice. On the south side, the design will also provide a new passage between the Piazzale Roma and the mooring platforms for the ACTV water transport.