en/it
Sometimes, recalling a professional experience has not only an informative purpose but presents at the same time, as it is in this case, a romantic and avant-garde aspect.
The passion for the history of engineering and for the Great Designers of reinforced concrete structures active in the post-war period has allowed to identify the features of Professor Riccardo Morandi designs in the “Bridge over Pasquarella ditch” located in Umbria Region, promoting a virtuous process that saved the bridge from invasive interventions which would have changed the identity of the structure.
The present paper showcases the story of the “structural restoration” of the bridge, which began by identifying the paternity of the design, later confirmed by the retrieval of some original plans and written correspondence between the designer and the construction company at the “Archivio Centrale dello Stato”. The “structural restoration” continued by performing a dedicated structural investigation campaign aimed at designing an improved version of the original retrofitting intervention which is nowadays almost completely realized.
Moreover, some insights on conservative restoration of reinforced concrete structures are provided, addressing the issue of the link between costs and architectural result and highlighting that not always a better aesthetic result means higher costs.
The followed procedure can be regarded as a “pilot project” for the restoration of “special bridges”. First of all, in fact, these bridges should be fully studied and respected in order to define more appropriate retrofitting interventions.