Fabrizio de Miranda (30 October 1926 – 21 January 2015) was an Italian bridges and

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

and university professor.

Career

He graduated with a degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

in 1950 from the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

. Beginning in 1955 he introduced in Italy steel-concrete composite structures, mainly in the field of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s. He planned the first motorway

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

s with steel structure (Coretta, Macinaie, Poggio Palina) on the Autostrada del Sole in Italy (1959). In 1959, he became managing director of the largest Italian steelwork company, "Costruzioni Metalliche Finsider S.p.A." in Milan, which was under his management until 1967. From 1965 until 1996, he was professor of "Tecnica delle costruzioni" (structural engineering) at Politecnico di Milano. He successfully participated in numerous National and International Design Competitions of bridges including the first prize ex aequo to the International Competition for the Messina Bridge as member of th
Lambertini Group
(1969). He was among the Founders and then President (in 1970–1973) of the Italian College of the Steel Structures Technicians (CTA). In 1968, he founded a Consulting Engineering Firm specializing in the design of Bridges and

Structures A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

. During more than fifty years of professional activity, he designed hundreds of structures and bridges. Notable projects include the elevated highways in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

(1963–1965), in Fiorenza-

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

(1961) and in San Lorenzo-

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(1969–1976), the viaducts and the Indiano Bridge across the

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sou ...

river near

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

(1972–1978), all in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; the Zarate-Brazo Largo Bridges in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(1969–1976), and the Rande Bridge in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(1973–1977). He died in Milan on 21 January 2015.Comune di Milano (It), Registro dello Stato Civile dell'anno 2015, atto n. 428 parte 2 serie B reg.04

Publications in English

* De Miranda F., 1964, ''Hollow steel sections in the RAI-TV Centre-Turin'', n. 12/1964 "Proceedings CIDECT 1964", London 1964. * De Miranda F., 1966, ''The role of steelwork in Italian Multi-Storey Buildings'' – Proceedings B.C.S.A. Dec. 1966. * De Miranda F., 1968, ''New concepts for elevated highways'', Proceedings B.C.S.A. – London. 24–26 June 1968. * De Miranda F. e Mele M., 1973, ''Some basic design principles for steel box girder bridges'', In London 13-14 febbraio 1973. Proceedings Institution Civil Engineers. * De Miranda F., et al., 1979, ''Basic problems in long span cable stayed bridges'', – Rep. n. 25 – Department of Structures – University of Calabria – Arcavacata (CS), ill., (224 p.) 1979. * Autori vari & De Miranda F., 1983, ''A contribution to the theory of long span cable-stayed bridges'', 11e Congres Association Internationale des Ponts ed Charpentes. * De Miranda F., 1988, ''Design – Long Span Bridges'', International Symposium on steel bridges. London, 24-25 marzo 1988. In "Costruzioni Metalliche" n. 4/1988. * De Miranda F., 1991, ''Some basic problems in the design of long span cable stayed bridges'', in ''Problemi avanzati nella costruzione dei ponti'', a cura di G. Creazza e M. Mele, Collana di Ingegneria Strutturale n.7, pp. 91–120, Ed. CISM (International Centre for Mechanical Sciences), Udine 1991. . * De Miranda F., 1991, ''The three Mentalities of Successful Bridge Design'', in ''Bridge Aesthetics around the world'', Ed. Transportation Research Board – National Research Council, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 1991.

Bibliography in Italian

* Renato Airoldi, ''Il concorso per il nuovo ponte sull'Adda a Paderno'', in ''Casabella'', n° 469, 1981, pp. 17–25 * Doniselli I., ''Fabrizio De Miranda: ponti e strutture'', in ''Costruzioni Metalliche'', n° 5, 1994 * Gigliola Meneghini, ''Fabrizio De Miranda nella storia dei ponti in acciaio'', tesi di laurea, relatore Enzo Siviero, correlatore Stefania Casucci. – 1999. – 2 v. : ill.; 30 cm; Istituto universitario di architettura di Venezia. Biblioteca Centrale IUAV TESI 1999 131-32. * Studio De Miranda Associati, ''Fabrizio de Miranda, raccolta delle pubblicazioni dal 1951 al 2004'', Milano, 2004. * L. Andreini, ''Ponte all'Indiano a Firenze'', in ''Rassegna di Architettura e Urbanistica'', n. 117, pp. 127–134, Università degli Studi "La Sapienza", Roma 2005. * Centro Studi del Consiglio Nazionale degli Ingegneri, (a cura di), ''Fabrizio de Miranda'', in ''L'ingegneria dei ponti del Novecento'', Catalogo della Mostra itinerante del 2006, pp. 42–43, Gangemi Editore, Roma 2006. * De Nardi Diego, ''Fabrizio De Miranda, Angelo Villa, Lodovico Tramontin. Il padiglione centrale della fiera di Pordenone'', Ed. Il Poligrafo (collana Territori dell'architettura. Opere), 2006, . * Marcello Zordan, ''Il contributo di Fabrizio de Miranda alla costruzione metallica del secondo novecento in Italia'', in ''Rassegna di Architettura e Urbanistica'' n. 121/122, pp. 149–158, Università degli studi "La Sapienza", Roma 2007. * Gianluca Capurso e Patrizia Fermetti (a cura di), ''Fabrizio de Miranda'', in "Rassegna di Architettura e Urbanistica", n. 121/122, p. 165, Università degli Studi "La Sapienza", Roma 2007.

References

External links

Biography of Fabrizio de Miranda from the Studio de Miranda Associati website

Studio De Miranda Associati website

Structurae database
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Miranda Bridge engineers Italian civil engineers Structural engineers 1926 births 2015 deaths University of Naples Federico II alumni Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Milan