The glass floor of Venice’s Ponte della Costituzione bridge across the Grand Canal is to be replaced with stone – because too many pedestrians are slipping over on it.
Santiago Calatrava was the architect of Constitution Bridge, which spans 300ft and costs multi-millions. The bridge opened to the public in 2008.
Although it was an impressive addition to Venice’s architecture and linked Venice’s railway station with Piazzale Roma’s car, bus, and ferry terminal, the controversy has hampered its development.
The glass floor of Venice’s Ponte della Costituzione bridge across the Grand Canal is to be replaced with stone – because too many pedestrians are slipping over on it
From the start, disability associations lamented a lack of wheelchair access, so a pod-style cabin with lift access was installed at a cost of around 1.5million euros (£1.26million/$1.7million). However, it was eventually taken down due to complaints of being too slow and hot during the summer.
It has been a problem that people slip on the unique glass floor of the bridge for years. Multiple tactics have been used to address it.
But the number of falls has led the city to allocate 500,000 euros (£420,000/$565,000) to completely replace the glass with trachyte stone, according to The New York Times.
People have been falling over the unique glass floor of the bridge for years. There are many ways to stop this from happening. These include nonslip stickers and resin patches, as well as nonslip stickers and trachyte stones placed along the walkway. Signs also warn visitors of possible loss in traction.
Francesca Zaccariotto (Venice’s Public Works Official), stated to the newspaper that “people hurt themselves” and sue the government. We must intervene.
‘We can’t always do poetry. It is necessary to give security.
Angelo Xalle (1971), a former port worker said that the bridge was not a bridge. It’s just a trap.
Calatrava, one of the most renowned architects in the world.
He was the architect of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub (New York), the Peace Bridge in Calgary, Margaret McDermott Bridges Dallas and the Samuel Beckett Bridge Dublin.
MailOnline reached out to him for comments.