A 500-year-old unbuilt bridge design by Leonardo da Vinci holds up

2019-10-11T16:00:00-04:00

Researchers at MIT have proven Leonardo da Vinci correct yet again, this time involving his design for what would have been at the time a revolutionary bridge design. Although clients rejected da Vinci's work at the time, over 500 years later, the researchers have proven that his bridge would have worked.

Part of a proposal for Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, da Vinci's bridge was intended to connect what is now Istanbul to Galata, a neighboring city. The proposed design spanned about 918 feet and was of masonry construction, making use of the compressive characteristics of an arc geometry. The team had to investigate the available materials of the time and study da Vinci's sketches and letter to the Sultan. If the design was implemented at the time it would have revolutionized architecture, writes Popular Mechanics.

"Leonardo da Vinci’s original drawing of the bridge proposal, showing a plan view at top and a side view (elevation) below, including a sailboat passing under the bridge, along with drawings that students Bast and Michelle Xie produced to show how the structure could be divided up into 126 individual blocks fthat were 3D printed to build a scale model." Credit: Karly Bast and Michelle Xie (Courtesy of MIT)

A view into the World of Leonardo da Vinci

2019-08-09T15:00:00-04:00

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is proud to present "The World of da Vinci", featuring 2 rare folios of the authentic, 500-year-old Codex Atlanticus. This remarkable exhibition also features over three-dozen reconstructions of Leonardo da Vinci’s fantastic machines, including over a dozen that are built life-size including his Mechanical Lion, Mechanical Bat and Great Kite.

The World of da Vinci, an exhibit at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, celebrates the work of the renowned Renaissance-era polymath.

The exhibition is open to the public until September 8, 2019.

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A 500-year-old unbuilt bridge design by Leonardo da Vinci holds up

A view into the World of Leonardo da Vinci