Provinciale di Lucca | Tuscany, Italy 2013

Spanning the River Serchio near Lucca, the architectural and structural form of this highway bridge has been carefully developed to ensure simplicity during the construction and operation phases, while maintaining a low visual profile when set against the magnificent surrounding landscape.

Exploiting the potential of balanced cantilever construction, the main span will be erected in two halves, each parallel to the banks of the river. Each half is then rotated into the final position and connected with an insitu concrete stitch at midspan over the river channel. Once connected the structure ceases to be a balanced cantilever and takes on the characteristics of a continuous viaduct. In this way, the construction process will have a minimal impact on river hydrodynamics while greatly simplifying access and flexibility.

Each principle support is designed with a distinctive hollow ‘window’ to allow water to pass during flood events, minimising hydraulic effects on the structure.