TORINO – MONUMENTAL BRIDGE UMBERTO I. Costruzione del Ponte Monumentale Umberto I° in Torino.

A very interesting photo album depicting the building of Torino’s monumental bridge.

Following safety issues with the adjacent iron bridge, the Maria Teresa bridge (located slightly further north, which was demolished in 1906), which arose at the end of the 19th century, proposals for the construction of a new bridge began to emerge. Rowing clubs pushed for a single-span bridge, but studies showed that this would be too expensive and difficult to build, and in the end, a three-span design by Vincenzo Micheli and Enrico Ristori was chosen. Built between 1903 and 1907 the bridge was baptized Ponte Umberto I after the death of the monarch in the year 1900. The monumental bridge, measuring 124 meters and resting on 3 arches (measuring 30, 32, and 30 meters) was built as a replacement of the suspension bridge inaugurated in 1840 but esteemed too feeble for modern traffic.

Construction work lasted four years and the bridge was inaugurated in 1907, in the presence of Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy.

After harsh criticism of the design’s excessive linearity, four statues were added to the four corners of the bridge, representing Valour on the Battlefield and Piety, by Luigi Contratti, Majesty Protecting Art and Majesty Protecting Industry, created by Cesare Reduzzi. Following this modification, the bridge was inaugurated a second time during the 1911 Universal Exposition.

The photographs are mounted chronologically and show the timeline between the first dig, and the final look of the finished works. The pictures include the provisional bridge, installation of an electrical pump to clear the foundation, transportation of granite blocks, preparation of the arcs, and more.

1. Posa della prima pietra coll’intervento delle LL.MM.

2. Ponte provisorio in legno – Fondazione spalla sinistra

3. Spalla Destra veduta a monte – infinissione – Pali

4. Impianto elettrico per l’esaurimento delle acque di fondazione

5. Fondazione spalla sinistra – Veduta a valle

6. Fondazione pila destra

7. Fondazione spalla sinistra veduta a monte

8. Fondazione spalla destra

9. Fondazione spalla sinistra – Fotografia a magnesio nello scavo sotto la vecchia spalla per eseguire la sotto fondazione

10. Carico dei blocchi di granito per la sopraelevzione del ponte

11. Sopraelevazione delle pile e spalle

12. Armatura delle arcate

13. Stato dei lavori nell’Aprile 1906

14. Stato dei lavori nel Giugno del 1906 dopo il disarmo delle arcate

15. Stato dei lavori ne Genaio 1907

First photo slightly oxidised, otherwise in very good condition.