The St Elmo Bridge is a single-span arched

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

steel

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

leading from the foreshore of

Fort Saint Elmo Fort Saint Elmo () is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort Tigné and Fort Ri ...

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, to the breakwater at the entrance of the

Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour (; ), also known as the Port of Marsa, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks ( Malta Dockyard), wharves, and fortifications. Description The h ...

. It was constructed in 2011–12 to designs of the Spanish architects Arenas & Asociados. The bridge stands on the site of an earlier bridge which had been built in 1906 and destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1941. The original bridge had a design similar to the present one, but it had two spans instead of one.

Original bridge

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the

was a major British naval base. In 1900 the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

began making plans to construct a breakwater so as to protect the harbour from both the rough seas as well as potential enemy intrusion. The breakwater was built out of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

, and it consisted of two sections with a lighthouse on each end. The larger arm of the breakwater was linked to the foreshore near

, with the smaller one being linked to

Fort Ricasoli Fort Ricasoli () is a bastioned fort in Kalkara, Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John between 1670 and 1698. The fort occupies a promontory known as Gallows' Point and the north shore of Rinella Bay, commanding the entrance to the G ...

. The tender to construct the breakwater was issued in 1902, and it was won by S. Pearson & Sons. The foundation stone was laid down by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

on 20 April 1903, and work began in 1905 and was completed in 1910. The total cost of the breakwater was around £1 million. It was deemed necessary to have a gap between the larger section of the breakwater and the St Elmo foreshore, so as to prevent water inside the harbour from becoming stagnant and also allow small vessels to take a quicker route to the harbour. A steel footbridge was constructed across this gap in 1906, and it consisted of two spans of arched

beams supported on a pair of cylindrical steel columns filled with concrete.

Destruction

On the night of 25–26 July 1941, during

, the

Decima Flottiglia MAS The ''Decima Flottiglia MAS'' (''Decima Flottiglia Motoscafi Armati Siluranti'', also known as ''La Decima'' or Xª MAS) (Italian for "10th Torpedo-Armed Motorboat Flotilla") was an Italian flotilla, with marines and commando frogman unit, of ...

of the Italian

Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...

launched an attack on the harbour using MAS motorboats,

MT explosive motorboat The explosive motorboat MT (''Motoscafo da Turismo'') also known as ''barchino'' (Italian for "little boat"), was a series of small explosive motor boats developed by the Italian Royal Navy, which was based on its predecessors, the prototype boat ...

s and SLC ''Maiale''

human torpedo Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use. ...

es. One of the SLCs was supposed to attack the bridge, which had nets blocking the entrance to the harbour, allowing the other vessels to enter the breach and attack naval shipping inside the harbour. The element of surprise was lost when the British detected the impending attack using radar, which the Italians had not anticipated. The attack on the bridge was launched at 04:46 on 26 July. The explosives in the first craft did not detonate, prompting the pilot of another craft to smash his explosive motorboat against the bridge in a suicide mission. The craft hit one of the bridge's columns, and it detonated the explosives in the first boat, causing one of the spans to collapse. This did not allow access to the harbour; on the contrary the collapsed span ended up completely blocking the entrance. The coastal batteries of

subsequently opened fire on the attackers, and most of the vessels were destroyed, with a few being captured. The collapsed span was removed after the attack, and the rest of the bridge was subsequently demolished after the war. All that remained were the stone abutments on either side and parts of the central columns. The breakwater and lighthouse were subsequently only accessible by boat.

Present bridge

The intention to construct a replica of the bridge on the site was announced in 2007. However, it became apparent that a reconstruction in accordance with the original design would not be financially feasible due to the quantity of steel required. When a tender for design, fabrication and construction of the bridge was issued on 18 September 2009, it called for a single-span bridge with a new design echoing the style of the original. The construction of a new bridge formed part of a larger project to regenerate Valletta, which also included the reconstruction of

City Gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

and the Barrakka Lift, among other projects. Malta - Valletta - Triq il-Lanca - St

The single-span steel bridge weighs , and it is long and wide. It has an asymmetrical L-shaped cross section, with an arched truss facing the seaward side. It is supported on the stone abutments of the original bridge, and the remains of the columns were also retained, although they are not connected to the modern bridge. The bridge was designed by the Spanish architects Arenas & Asociados, and it was fabricated at

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

before being shipped to Malta on board the ''Storman Asia''. Bezzina & Cole Architects along with the contractor Vassallo Builders were responsible for putting the bridge in place, and the installation took place on 5 October 2011. The lighting system was designed by Anthony Magro of Calleja Limited. The project cost €2.8 million. The bridge was designed to last for 120 years. The bridge was inaugurated on 24 July 2012 by Austin Gatt, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications, and it was subsequently opened to the public. The bridge received mixed reactions from the public, with some praising its design and the fact that it restored the original appearance of the breakwater, while critics disapproved of the cost of construction and called it a "

bridge to nowhere A bridge to nowhere is a bridge where one or both ends are broken, incomplete, or unconnected to any roads. If it is an overpass or an interchange, the term overpass to nowhere or interchange to nowhere may be used respectively. Origins Th ...

." Since its inauguration it has become a landmark, and it has occasionally suffered damage to its decking or railings, which have resulted in it being closed to the public for some periods of time to allow for repair works.

Notes

References

External links