Da Vinci vindicated 500 years later
One of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous designs was a bridge that the Ottoman Sultan asked him to build in the 1500s. The purpose of this bridge was to connect Constantinople with Galata, a suburb situated on the other side of the Golden Horn. The original design for the bridge was rejected. The principal reason of the rejection was that it seemed too radical in 15th century Italy. MIT engineers now have proven that would have been just fine; they studied the bridge at 500 year intervals and found that it’s robust enough to hold up against high winds.
Da Vinci’s bridge design was very innovative and different from the bridges of the time. It would have been 218 metres long and consisted of flattened arches high enough to allow sailing ships to pass underneath. If it became a reality, this bridge would be the longest in the world by far (10 times longer) – making us consider aspects of architecture that had been previously unexplored. Leonardo da Vinci’s design wasn’t applied to bridges until many years later, 300 to be precise.
Researches today
Researchers from MIT looked at the materials and methods of Da Vinci’s construction to create Vitruvian Man. The team researched as well the physical surroundings of the time created, then known as the Golden Horn. They created a model of the bridge using 126 pieces. He discovered that it would hold up just because of compression. Further testing showed that the bridge would withstand strong winds, even earthquakes. It would withstand far more than any other bridges of its time.
Geometry is the foundation of strength in construction. It’s the lines that dictate an object to be sturdy and a lot of people don’t know that they’re doing it. Did Da Vinci take 50 seconds to create it or did he spend his time waiting thinking about? It’s hard to tell.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
