Da Vinci bridge design stuns researchers 500 years later
By Chris Ciaccia | Fox News
Perhaps the most famous painter, inventor and sculptor ever, Leonardo da Vinci's name resonates in the annals of history. While he may be best known for works such as the "Mona Lisa" and "Salvador Mundi," a bridge design he created for the Ottoman Empire could be his most awe-inspiring work.
The newly analyzed design, written about in a yet-to-be-published study by MIT researchers, shows that da Vinci's concept used a flattened arch tall enough to let sailboats pass underneath the bridge. It would also have been wide enough to use a single arch.
Most of the bridge supports in da Vinci's time used semicircular arches, which according to the statement, "would have required 10 or more piers along the span to support such a long bridge." The bridge would have connected Istanbul to the neighboring city of Galata, according to the researchers.
Leonardo da Vinci’s original drawing of the bridge proposal, showing a plan view at top and a side view (elevation) below, including a sailboat passing under the bridge, along with drawings that students Karly Bast and Michelle Xie produced to show how the structure could be divided up into 126 individual blocks that were 3D printed to build a scale model. (Credit: Karly Bast and Michelle Xie)
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https://www.foxnews.com/science/da-vinci-bridge-design-stuns-researchers-500-years-later
