THE RAILWAY BRIDGE (Ponte della ferrovia)

THE HISTORY

Between 1905 and 1908 the Bagnaian railway station was built in the city centre, which enabled the growth of a new part of the city. The railway station, denominated “Roma Nord”, exceeded the 102 kilometres and it was the direct connection between Rome and Viterbo as well as the articulation for the internal connections of the Tuscia and of Rome with the Northern Lazio. The railway track was designed by the engineers Ernesto Besenzanica e Francesco Paolo Faggiani. Thanks to the original idea of the engineer Besenzanica it was possible to overcome the considerable differences regarding the nature of the land through the realisation of some bridges of which, the most famous is the Bagnaian Bridge “il ponte di Bagnaia”. The Bagnaian Railway Bridge was made after the initial development of the railway between 1911 and 1913. Towards its completion, the new railway line connecting Civita Castellana and Viterbo was launched. Unfortunately this line soon encountered political and logistical problems and it was left abandoned due to lack of maintenance. Between 1928 and 1930 the  “Società Romana per le Ferrovie del Nord“ (SRFN) “ The Roman Society for the railways of the North (SRFN) took action and rebuilt the whole line. In 1930 Mussolini (a famous dictator) reorganized the public transport network in Italy and therefore this railway line was completed. For this reason 4000 workers worked in three shifts of eight hours, so the work continued without interruption until completion on the 27^th of October 1932, which marks the official opening day, in coincidence of the anniversary of the March in Rome. Thanks to the engineers Angelelli, Joniaux and Besenzanica, the Viterbo-Civita Castellana line was merged and the tramline Civita Castellana-Roma was converted into a railway line. Surely the most emblematic work about the construction of the railway Roma Nord is the Bagnaian Bridge. Its architecture results particularly interesting as the last arch facing east does not have a straight vault. It is exactly this detail   resulted in the Bagnaian railway bridge being different from all the other realized by the engineer. From 1980 the bridge is mentioned in the Treccani Encyclopaedia due to its architecture and prestige. After the Second World War the Eagles, fascist symbols, that had been carved on the bridge for decoration were removed. Nowadays the scratches of the removal are visible along the surface of the bridge. On the first arch to the right that passes above the street, part of the head and wings of the eagle still remains. In recent times the bridge has undergone interventions of consolidation. 100 years after its construction anyone traveling on the Ortana road can admire the bridge in all its majesty.

DESCRIPTION

The Bagnaian railway bridge is located on “Ortana” Street in proximity of the southern entry of the town.  It is 75 metres long and 22 metres high and is supported by 5 semicircular arches. Looking towards the north it is clear that the fifth arch to the right has a different inclination.

The railway bridge. Translation by Mark Maliakal, Deakin University.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. CURCI; Il treno della Tuscia. Roma 1982.
V. FRITTELLI; Bagnaia. “Cronache d’una terra del Patrimonio”, Viterbo 1977.
G. LELMI: La ferrovia Roma nord in http://ferroviaromanord.altervista.org
AA. VV. La via ferrata del Soratte – La Roma Nord in Metro, Manziana 2004.

Fonti online
http://ferroviaromanord.altervista.org/Bagnaia.htm
Elisabetta Lelmi –  http://digilander.libero.it/historiamilitaria3/romanord.htm