Dragon Bridge (Ljubljana)
| Dragon Bridge | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Crosses | Ljubljanica River |
| Locale | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| Longest span | 33.34 metres (109.4 ft) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1901 |
The Dragon Bridge (Slovene: Zmajski most, historically also Zmajev most) is a road bridge located in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It crosses the Ljubljanica River. between Kopitar Street (Kopitarjeva ulica) and Ressel Street (Resljeva cesta), to the north of the Ljubljana Central Market at Vodnik Square. It was built in the beginning of the 20th century, when Ljubljana was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. As one of the best examples of reinforced concrete bridges and of the Vienna Secession style, the bridge is today protected as a technical monument. It is intended primarily for motorised traffic.
The bridge was originally named The Jubilee Bridge of the Emperor Franz Josef I (German: Franz Josef I. Jubiläumsbrücke, Slovene: Franca Jožefa I. jubilejni most). In July 1919, it was renamed to Dragon Bridge.
The bridge was built as part of a wider urban renovation of the town during the administration of the mayor Ivan Hribar. It replaced an old oak bridge named Butchers' Bridge (Mesarski most), which was constructed in 1819 and damaged by a severe earthquake in 1895. For economic reasons, the municipal authorities took the decision to finance a reinforced concrete construction of the new bridge instead of a more expensive and less fashionable stone one.Janez Koželj, a professor of urban design, expressed in 2010 his opinion that the new technology of reinforced concrete and new static calculations were used in Ljubljana instead of Vienna, because it meant minor consequences if they had not worked.
...
Wikipedia