Venice Begins Dismantling Glass Steps of Santiago Calatrava’s Slippery Glass Bridge
Architects & Firms
The Venice City Council has moved ahead with the partial reconstruction of Santiago Calatrava’s litigious, infamously slip-and-fall-prone pedestrian bridge, Ponte della Costituzione, spanning the Grand Canal. As reported by Spanish newspaper El País and other European media outlets, the Valencia-born architect and engineer—no stranger to controversy regarding his bridges and other sculptural structures—will not be part of the effort to replace the bridge’s glass tile steps, which have prompted numerous users to lose their footing and fall in wet conditions since it was inaugurated in 2008. Per El País, the council recently confirmed that a “private architectural firm” has been tasked with finding the “most suitable solution” for taming the 308-foot-long steel-framed bridge.
Dismantling work is now underway, two years after Venice officials first announced that the tempered glass steps would have to go.
“The objective of the intervention is to replace all the glass steps on the bridge with another material, which may be stone, synthetic or natural, but which is compatible with the architectural decisions and the intended use,” detailed a resolution published by the council, which added that whatever new material is chosen to replace the glass must have “adequate anti-slip performance.” Preliminary estimates provided by the city’s Public Works department state that replacing all 284 glass steps on the bridge will cost approximately 1.2 million euros—that’s 4,225 euros, or roughly $4,440, per step.
While the costly move to fully replace the glass steps of the tourist-attracting arch truss bridge—named to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Italian Constitution but colloquially referred to as the “Calatrava Bridge”—is dramatic, it isn’t the first effort taken by the city to prevent accidental tumbles (and legal action taken by the visitors it has taken down). Adhesive strips and other non-slip materials have been installed by authorities but with limited success, prompting officials to shutter the bridge, one of four crossing the Grand Canal, entirely on drizzly days. In addition to replacing the glass steps, the city will also spend significant funds to perform maintenance on the bridge’s steel elements. Altogether, the various accessibility-boosting improvements, with security costs factored in, will reach between 1.5 and 2 million euros.
The Calatrava Bridge has been a magnet for strong criticism since opening, with complaints being lobbed not only at its slick and sometimes perilous surfaces but at its location and modern aesthetics. Accessibility—or lack thereof—has also been a point of contention, particularly with regard to elderly users and those with mobility limitations who might be unable to navigate the many-stepped span. This prompted the city to install a wheelchair lift system, which was ultimately dismantled due to myriad problems. In August 2019, the Court of Auditors of Venice ordered Calatrava to pay €78,000, accusing him of gross negligence during the design of the bridge.
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