Musmeci Bridge

The “Viadotto dell’Industria” (Industry viaduct), also known as "Bridge over the Basento" river or Musmeci Bridge, is a bridge in Potenza, Basilicata, Italy, that connects the Potenza city center exit on the Sicignano-Potenza motorway with the main access roads in the southern part of the city.

Designed by the Italian engineer Sergio Musmeci in 1967, and built between 1971 and 1976, the bridge perfectly incarnates Musmeci's architectural theories. The structure cost about 920,000,000 Italian liras (equivalent to €4,000,000 in 2016).

The structure's uniqueness is due to its construction: it is made of only one membrane of reinforced concrete (about 30 cm thick) molded to form four contiguous arches. The concrete sheet is shaped into a “finger-like” structure, which supports the whole bridge, and it is also used as a pedestrian walkway. The unique structure of teh bridge has been the subject of several studies and discussions on its structure and form.

The bridge was built without using prefabricated elements. Edilstrade Forlì-Castrocaro company constructed the bridge.

Plans and drawings of the bridge are collected in the “Musmeci Sergio and Zanini Zenaide archive” which in 1997 was declared of great historical interest by the archival superintendents of Lazio. Then in 2003, it was referred by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture as an example of architecture from the 20th century in the MAXXI (The National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome). In 2003, the bridge was declared a “monument of cultural interest” by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

Cultural impact
The bridge inspired the virtuosic piano piece The Arching Path by Christopher Cerrone.