ABSTRACT
Of all the bridges invented by Leonardo da Vinci, the great Renaissance architect, engineer and mechanic, one of the most fascinating types is the so-called “woven arch bridge”: by interlocking longitudinal and transverse beams, the bridge can achieve an arch form with a large span using short members.
By tracing the origin of Leonardo’s idea for this design, this chapter will first go further back to Roman Gaul, when Julius Caesar built his Rhine Bridge, to invade Magna Germania. Caesar’s description of the structure of this peculiar bridge inspired later studies in Renaissance Italy by architects and scholars, reaching its apex with Andrea Palladio’s great work. Following on from the analysis of Palladio’s reconstruction, this chapter will look at Da Vinci’s bridge sketches to establish clues and evidence that demonstrate Da Vinci’s train of thought for the invention of his miraculous “woven” structures: from his study on Caesar’s Rhine Bridge, he approached the invention of the woven arch bridges, which he probably designed as a war device, to the apex of his theoretical design, namely the three-dimensional “reciprocal frame” structure.
