Vebjørn Sand Da Vinci Project

da Vinci Bridge Da Vinci-Broen
The da Vinci bridge in Ås
Coordinates	59°43′08″N 10°47′03″E / 59.718872°N 10.784276°E / 59.718872; 10.784276Coordinates: 59°43′08″N 10°47′03″E / 59.718872°N 10.784276°E / 59.718872; 10.784276
Carries	pedestrian and bicycle traffic
Crosses	Highway E-18
Locale	Nygård, Ås, Akershus Norway
Named for	Leonardo da Vinci
Owner	Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Website	www.leonardobridgeproject.org
Characteristics
Design	Deck arch bridge
Material	Laminated wood; steel-reinforced
Total length	109 m (358 ft)
Longest span	40 m (130 ft)
History
Architect	Vebjørn Sand Selberg Architects
Designer	Leonardo da Vinci
Engineering design by	Reinhert Structural Engineers
Construction begin	1997
Construction end	2001
Construction cost	12 kr million
Opened	2001
da Vinci Bridge Location in Akershus

The Vebjørn Sand da Vinci Project built a laminated-wood parabolic-arch pedestrian bridge in Norway over European route E18 in Ås, Norway as a partnership between the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Norwegian painter and artist Vebjørn Sand, who heads the Project. The resulting da Vinci Bridge is one of several installations that Sand is known for in Norway.

Leonardo da Vinci proposed a bridge 366 m (1,201 ft) long, overall and 24 m (79 ft) wide over the Golden Horn in 1502 for Sultan Bayezid II of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). The sketch and letter proposal were lost for over 400 years before being rediscovered in 1952. The proposed bridge included a 240 m (790 ft) "pressed bow" main span with 43 m (141 ft) of vertical clearance to allow ships to pass. da Vinci bragged that "it has been [the Sultan's] intention to erect a bridge from Galata (Pera) to Stambul… across the Golden Horn (‘Haliç’), but this has not been done because there were no experts available. I, your subject, have determined how to build the bridge. It will be a masonry bridge as high as a building, and even tall ships will be able to sail under it." The sketch was confirmed to be a genuine work of da Vinci by comparison with an identical sketch in Manuscript L, part of the Paris Manuscripts stored in the Institut de France in Paris.

Had the 1502 design been implemented, it would have been the longest bridge in the world, and it would still be the longest single masonry arch span in the world. Da Vinci is said to have been inspired by the then newly-built bridge "Ponte degli Alidosi" over Santerno at Castel del Rio near Bologna.