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Ponte della Libertà (Pavia)

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Ponte della Libertà

"Liberty Bridge"
The bridge, as seen in 2009
Coordinates45°10′50″N 9°08′47″E / 45.180444°N 9.146447°E / 45.180444; 9.146447
CrossesTicino river
Locale Lombardy, Italy
Characteristics
DesignArched bridge
MaterialReinforced concrete and granite
Total length225 meters
No. of lanes3
Location
Map

The Ponte della Libertà (called Ponte dell'Impero until 1947, a name still informally used today) is a concrete bridge that runs over the Ticino river, which connects the northern and southern banks of the river near Pavia. The bridge was opened to traffic in 1936.

Description and history

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The bridge consists of five arches of 45 meters of span each and is made of reinforced concrete covered with gray Baveno granite. From an architectural point of view it belongs to Italian rationalism. It was built between 1934 and 1936 to ease the traffic of vehicles crossing Pavia and its covered bridge on the route between Milan and Genoa. The construction area also raised some doubts, as it was still considered too much within the city territory.[1][2]

On September 4 and 5, 1944 the bridge was bombed, resulting in the destruction of the southern arch, which was however quickly rebuilt by the Germans retreating from Italy. In 1947 the repair of the bridge was completed and it was renamed with its current name.[1][3][4] In 2014, a night lighting system with blue and pink lights was installed on the bridge, designed by the artist Marco Lodola.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Mussolini nel 1936 al taglio del nastro". la Provincia Pavese. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Istituto pavese per la storia della resistenza e dell'età contemporanea". Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  3. ^ "La ricostruzione dei tre ponti pavesi sul Ticino". Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Quando a Pavia bombardarono i ponti". la Provincia Pavese. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Luci sul ponte della Libertà, almeno due mesi di lavori". la Provincia Pavese. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2019.