Abstract
Abstract. In the second half of 19th century the city of Rome knew a period of great urban transformations: the Pope Pio IX and after, the government of the new Kingdom of Italy, strongly pushed the modernization of the ancient and underdeveloped city, trying to follow the examples of the main European capitals. One of the most relevant signs of that period was the construction of multiple iron and steel bridges along the Tiber, that were built to improve the crossing network guaranteed by the old masonry links. Different supporting systems were used and many experimental technologies for the Italian context were tested, representing a crucial phase for the settle of a design and an industrial know-how that was firstly imported from the most advanced countries of the Northern Europe. In the 20th century most of these connections were unfortunately replaced, losing this precious heritage which was strongly linked to the technological culture of the time. Garibaldi Bridge, still present but radically transformed, and Alari Bridge, completely demolished, have been accurately modelled thanks to the availability of appropriate archival documentation and on-site tests, applied following a proposed methodology. The virtual reconstruction of the two case studies permits to spread the knowledge of this lost heritage, to ease the divulgation of past technologies and to recover the unusual image of exposed iron and steel structures surrounded by the ancient panorama of the Eternal city.
Highlights
Two young spouses gloomily greet each other by the banks of a river that divides the city and marks the border between two nations (Figure 1)
The reconstruction of the lost heritage of the iron bridges of Rome represents the re-enactment of a crucial part of its urban history, included in the general events that mark the sudden metamorphosis from the Capital of the Papal State to the Capital of the new Savoy Kingdom
The outcomes of the present work show the potential which are inherent in the proposed methodology and open to future developments: in particular following steps will consist in the modeling of the remaining bridges; for example, in case of involvement of stakeholders and urban associations, one another goal could be the launch of an online platform to host outcomes of the study and offer a place of dissemination, knowledge and discussion for the rediscovery of this "weak" heritage
Summary
Two young spouses gloomily greet each other by the banks of a river that divides the city and marks the border between two nations (Figure 1). The memory, is itself "weak" and the years erase the traces of the past or accumulate on them "the dust of time"; so as to lose memories and successive generations tend to forget what it was before. This is what happened, for example, to the iron bridges of the 19th century in Rome, a heritage that is lost but which represented a turning point in the process of modernization of the papal city and in the construction of the new capital, generating a radical “change of direction” in the antiquated technological context of the city. The reconstruction of the lost heritage of the iron bridges of Rome represents the re-enactment of a crucial part of its urban history, included in the general events that mark the sudden metamorphosis from the Capital of the Papal State to the Capital of the new Savoy Kingdom
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