The Cittadella Bridge, designed to connect the city of Alessandria, Italy, with the 18th-century citadel across the Tanaro River in northwestern Italy, has been completed by Richard Meier & Partners. With a surface area of approximately 4,150 meters and a length of 185 meters, the Cittadella Bridge is a precast-concrete and painted-steel modern structure. The new design solves the problem of flooding and also reconnects the city with the Cittadella, an 18th century fort and tentative UNESCO World Heritage site. By re-linking Piazza Gobetti to the citadel’s structures, the project hopes to catalyze their future preservation and reuse. The bridge also enhances the natural flow of the river Tanaro.The new bridge provides separate parallel routes for pedestrian and vehicular circulation, avoiding heavy traffic. The pedestrian walkway effectively becomes a public plaza, re-connecting civic life with the river. The vehicular side of the bridge bows strongly to the north and the 32.5 meter high arch of the bridge is curved to the south. The weight of the pedestrian bridge helps to maintain the balance, while the opposing curves create a dynamic arrangement. The porfido stone pavers to the sides of the abatement walls seamlessly anchor the structure to the traditional palette of Alessandria’s streetscapes, noted Domus.  Read more