Iron bridge over Po river – Castelvetro Piacentino

Description

The iron bridge over the Po river, in the municipality of Castelvetro Piacentino, connects the provinces of Piacenza and Cremona and, at 960+m in length, is one of the longest iron bridges in Europe (12 arches 7.2 meters wide).
It was inaugurated on 20 September 1892 in the presence of civil authorities and with a great celebration. In February 1886, the Civil Engineering Office of Cremona presented the project for a dual-use viaduct (road and railway). The location was established 400m upstream from the old barge bridge. The contract was awarded on 29 October 1886 to the Società Nazionale delle Officine di Savigliano (SNOS), and work began in April 1887. The final cost amounted to 5,972,000 lire. Its construction was a courageous undertaking for those times and was achieved thanks to a man from Cremona, Francesco Genala, Minister of Public Works in the Depretis Cabinet.
The bridge was bombed during WWII and reconstructed at the end of the conflict. The original 19^th century part is located on the Castelvetro side, where the SNOS commemorative plaques placed in 1892 can still be seen, while the portion towards Cremona was rebuilt in 1946.
The bridge consisted of a single carriageway road (one lane for each direction) girder and a railway girder, in addition to a pedestrian walkway. A new railway bridge was built by the 19^th century viaduct and inaugurated In May 1990, and the obsolete girder dismantled. In 2005 the old narrow and unsafe pedestrian walkway was replaced with a new 2.5m wide cycle/pedestrian walkway.

Position on map