case study Leonardo Bridge Project Essay -- essays research papers

When Leonardo da Vinci designed a 240 meters bridge it would have been the longest bridge in the world. His plan was ambitious. In 1502, a skeptical sultan rejected Leonardo's design as impossible, but 300 years civilization finally embraced the engineering principle - arches as supports - underlying the construction. The bridge has been constructed, in Norway. Now instead of spanning the Bosporus , his visionary creation was destined to span 500 years as a bridge to another millennium. Vebjorn Sand, the man behind the modern project, has a site with images and details. http://www.vebjorn-sand.com/thebridge.htm Leonardo Bridge Project In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci did a simple drawing of a graceful bridge with a single span of 720-foot span (approximately 240-meters.) Da Vinci designed the bridge as part of a civil engineering project for Sultan Bajazet II of Constantinople (Istanbul.) The bridge was to span the Golden Horn, an inlet at the mouth of the Bosphorus River in what is now Turkey. The Bridge was never built. Leonardo's "Golden Horn" Bridge is a perfect "pressed-bow." Leonardo surmised correctly that the classic keystone arch could be stretched narrow and substantially widened without losing integrity by using a flared foothold, or pier, and the terrain to anchor each end of the span. It was conceived 300 years prior to its engineering principals being generally accepted. It was to be 72 feet-wide (24 meters), 1080-foot total length (360 meters) and 120 feet (40 meters) above the sea level at the highest point of the span. Norwegian painter and public art creator, Vebjà ¸rn Sand, saw the drawing and a model of the bridge in an exhibition on da Vinci's architectural & engineering designs in 1996. The power of the simple design overwhelmed him. He conceived of a project to bring its eternal beauty to life. The Norwegian Leonardo Bridge Project makes history as the first of Leonardo's civil engineering designs to be constructed for public use. Vebjà ¸rn Sand took the project to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Though hardly a visionary organization, when Sand presented the project the reaction was unanimous. "Everyone on the project knew we would be making something more than another boring bridge," Sand says of his meetings with government officials, "We would be... ...or the Project. Through the process of development, these world-class architects and engineers have joined Vebjà ¸rn Sand to create a "dream team" of experts on the history, design and structural aspects of the "Queen of Bridges" prepared to implement the global project. Sand's vision to build the bridge on each continent also includes drawing on the cultural traditions, and incorporating materials, unique to each region. Finally, the Leonardo Bridge Project represents a historical connection between Europe and the Middle East, between Christianity and Islam. The Italian Renaissance was inspired by the scholarship of the Ottoman Empire. Leonardo, in turn, was fascinated by the Middle East. This aspect seems particularly relevant since the events of September 11, 2001, as the Leonardo Project expands into the global goodwill project Vebjà ¸rn Sand envisioned. The Norwegian Leonardo Bridge was constructed and opened to foot and bicycle traffic on October 31, 2001. Da Vinci's vision resurrected, 500 years after the drawing was made. Vebjà ¸rn Sand is currently considering several sites in the United States for the next Leonardo Bridge Project.