Mezzovico-Vira Footbridge

The footbridge is located in Mezzovico, in via Cavazz, and connects the two banks of the river Vedeggio. It is a cycle-pedestrian crossing included in the national route of the N3 cycle paths (North-South axis).

The load-bearing structure of the footbridge consists of two parallel and congruent trusses connected under the walking surface by a reticular support plane. All constituent profiles are square-section RHS type. The upper chord and the ribs are 120 x 120 mm square-section profiles, while the diagonals are 80 x 80 mm square profiles. The upper chord is a circumferential arch with a radius at intrados of 76.3 m. The minimum height of the truss is 100 mm, the maximum is 190 mm. Before the renovation work, the walkway was equipped with a metal handrail (h. 100 cm) and a horizontal stainless steel cable guardrail, which was not standard. The walking surface was made of wooden joists in a poor state of preservation.

The renovation and securing of the footbridge involve the replacement of the existing (deteriorated) walking surface, the removal of the horizontal stainless-steel cables and the plugging of the empty triangular parts with a steel plate with a natural oxidised (rust) finish. The plugging of the hollow space is realised with a perforated sheet metal with the maximum possible void/full proportion. The micro-perforated sheet metal infill provides transparency and allows for natural ventilation of the interior space of the walkway. The main truss structure has been treated and painted with a “rust” colour.

The walking surface consists of 11 new precast concrete slabs with high frost resistance in the presence of de-icing salts with a hydrophobic treatment. The walking surface is rough and non-slip; it was obtained by washing the surface combined with the application of a retardant on the formwork. The total weight of the slabs is approximately 16 tonnes. The slabs were laid on neoprene strips directly applied to the side support profiles. The colour of the paving slabs is light yellow and was obtained thanks to the aggregate used (Saltrio limestone). The colours of the walkway are all warm tones, in harmony with the surrounding natural context.