The engineer's Structure or Sculpture?

Zoltan, Agocs

Ever since Mankind began building it has been constructing bridges. The state of development of a civilisation is characterised by the technical, technological and aesthetic qualities of its bridges, from the simplest beam, frame, and suspension bridges to the most advanced oblique cable types. A few Japanese examples of the most advanced steel rope-structure bridges reflect the technological level of the country. The typical bridge designer of today is less of an engineer than his predecessors, indeed, nowadays designing a bridge is a multidisciplinary team task, dominated by a decorative designer and architect. The dominance of the aesthetic aspect may sometimes encourage autotelic and spendthrift solutions.
Next, the lecture overviews the aspects and factors to be considered in the construction of a new bridge. Function, location, environment and tradition are all important factors - Japanese examples illustrate how all of these factors are taken into account. The main difficulty of the most advanced oblique cable bridges lies in the longitudinal distribution of the suspension ropes and the shaping of the pylons. This type holds more options from an aesthetic point of view, yet remains a simpler structure. While with suspension bridges we suspend the beam on the cable with a slender spider web, in the case of arch-bridges it is suspended on the main supporting arch, which is plastically hard to design in a pleasing way. A small bridge can also be recognised as a masterpiece: Mamuro Kawaguchi's foot-bridge has duly been awarded.
Finally, the lecture deals with the events leading to and the implementation of the reconstruction of the Mária-Valéria Bridge at Párkány, which connects Slovakia and Hungary. Not merely were there complex technical elements but political and economic factors competing with historical traditions, moreover the exceptional location of the bridge - the proximity of the Basilica of Esztergom had to be borne in mind.

About the lecturer