Design and construction of a ‘pointed’ arch bridge

The design of a bridge to be built over a heavily used railway lane is always strongly conditioned by its construction method. This paper describes a recently completed project in Rho (Italy), where the entire steel structure of the span over the railway was assembled alongside the railway line, and then lifted on the piers in one hour of suspension of railway traffic. The peculiar shape of the bridge is the result of structural needs, construction requirements and aesthetic evidence.