Bridge In Ice

Building with ice is one of the most environmental-friendly ways to make a building. There is a long tradition in making igloos, but the technical improvements for making ice buildings is a new field with just a handful of researchers. The Structural Ice Association in cooperation with the municipality of Juuka and more than 15 international Universities and institutes are the organizers of the ice events.

For the Bridge in Ice we’ve found our inspiration in a well-known genius. Leonardo da Vinci designed a stone bridge in 1502 for the sultan of Istanbul with a span of 240 meters, which was never built. At that time people thought such a big span couldn’t be realized. The design turned out to be so interesting that there has been done a lot of research on the ‘Galata Bridge’. Even some full-scale models were constructed. In 2001 a pedestrian bridge in wood, based on Leonardo’s design, has been built in Norway, as well as some small ice bridges (www.leonardobridgeproject.org).