New Venice Bridge Trips Tourists Up

Ten tourists have been injured after walking across Venice’s new 282-foot-long Constitution Bridge, which opened on Sept. 11. The tourists were treated after tripping on the steps of bridge, which links Venice’s railway station with Piazzale Roma, a car, bus and ferry terminal on the opposite side of the Grand Canal.

Pedestrians who lost their footing blamed the bridge’s irregularly spaced steps and the disorienting optical effect of the sectioned stone and glass flooring, according to reports in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

A police guard stationed on the bridge said the accidents occurred when tourists looked at the city views from the bridge rather than paying attention to their feet.

The high-tech steel and glass bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, has been dogged by controversy since plans for it were announced in 1996. Some feared that the canal banks would not be able to properly support the bridge, which is the fourth over the Grand Canal and the city’s first new bridge in 70 years.

The Venice City Council has asked the architect for solutions for the problem, but so far has ruled out closing the bridge for structural modifications.