Building a new bridge in Venice was not an easy task. Not only from a stylistic point of view, as the new structure had to harmoniously blend with the other 400 bridges in the city, but also from a construction standpoint, because space in Venice is a very rare resource.

In 1997, the Municipality issued a challenge: to build a new bridge over the Grand Canal, the city’s most important and widest canal, connecting Piazzale Roma with the railway station. Until then, this canal was only crossed by three points, the most famous and ancient of which is the Rialto Bridge.

La sfida fu accolta da Santiago Calatrava, architetto spagnolo considerato uno dei più originali del tempo, che affrontò la sfida stilistica disegnando un sottile arco in acciaio, legno e vetro che si appoggia sulle sponde del canale.
Ed è proprio il vetro a dominare questa struttura che lo stesso autore definisce una “passerella di luce”.
Il pavimento è formato da 300 gradini e il parapetto da 90 lastre tutte di vetro.

We at Trasped were entrusted with the task of transporting and positioning the 90 glass panels that form the Calatrava Bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice.

For the work in Venice, we used our flagship vehicle of the time: a Mercedes-Benz Actros 3241 Bluetec 5 with 4 axles, equipped with a Fassi F45 56 crane.

The 90 large panels, once delivered to their destination, were lifted to height, maneuvering the suction cups with millimeter precision in Venice.
We operated horizontally, positioning the racks with the glass at various points on the bridge using the truck crane. Where this method was not feasible, we loaded the racks onto a barge equipped with a crane, which operated from below. To minimize disruption to the city’s daily life, we carried out unloading operations at the morning twilight.

The 90 panels were successfully positioned without a scratch, thanks to the skill of our drivers, who are trained to handle the challenges that arise daily.