Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Da Vinci Bridge Built

Posted by michael on from the better-late-than-never dept.

cluening writes: "A bridge designed about 500 years ago by Leonardo Da Vinci has finally been built. It's mighty cool that something envisioned so long ago has actually been created with relatively little trouble." See also the project's home page.

11 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Safety and $$$ by SplendidIsolatn · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'm curious as to how the costs of this bridge would compare with a non-Da Vincian design. Aside from the pleasurable looks, does this bridge provide any other functionality such as safety in unpleasant conditions?

    That being said, if there was another added benefit (strength, cost) would it be possible to create that bridge for automobiles? If anyone who knows more about architecture than I do has an answer, I'd like to know.

    --
    sig--we don't need no goddamn sig
  2. Celebrating a Contender by JJ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    IMHO, celebrating the ideas of a contender for "World's Smartest Human, Ever" is worth whatever this bridge cost. Besides, it looks like a really cool bridge.

    --
    So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
  3. Nordmenn elsker bruer by imrdkl · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The Norwegians really like their bridges. And tunnels. They are masters of tunnel building. And one of the first things I noticed when driving cross-country here was the plethora of bridge designs. They seem to have tried a little of everything, its pretty cool to see.

    Hats off to the norwegians for cool engineering and no fear of new (and old) designs.

    Now, if someone could tell me please, when do they close the fjords at night?

  4. Another cool old bridge by e4 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The PBS show NOVA did a program about engineers trying to recreate the famous Rainbow Bridge shown in this this 900-year-old painting.

    It is widely believed that the bridge actually existed in China centuries ago, but it's actual design was a bit of a mystery. Using the famous painting as a guide, they were able to come up with a feasable design using wood and ropes. They eventually built a full sized bridge in a Chinese village. The bridge was remarkably strong for a millenium-old design.

    NOVA has to be one of the coolest shows around...

  5. Da Vinci bicycle by John+Harrison · · Score: 5, Interesting
    For the final project of my freshman year Civ class we built a da Vinci bicycle out of wood. Acutally we built it twice since the janitors from the dorm thought the first one which had only to be assembled to be complete was junk so they threw it out. The second one was ridable and could be pedaled but was hard to turn.

    I even rode it to class a few times. Nothing attracts attention like riding your extremely loud wooden bicycle to class.

    We ended up not having a place to store for the summer it so we simply locked it to a bike rack and left it as art. It lasted as art for several months before being removed.

    --
    Lasers Controlled Games!
    1. Re:Da Vinci bicycle by morcheeba · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This was the best picture of DaVinci's bike that I could find on the net. (Also try here) It's only got one triangle instead of the two that the modern bike has, so it looks a bit stressful on the parts. I'd love to see more; especially the steering (or lack of steering?) mechanism.

      --
      HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
    2. Re:Da Vinci bicycle by John+Harrison · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Ours had no triangles and now way to turn the front wheel. I managed to steer by popping wheelies and jerking the wheel to one side repeatedly. We used 2x4s for the frame and plywood wheels with 1 inch dowels for axles. The seat was mounted to a 2x4 that came up just in front of the rear wheel. The handle bar was mounted to 2x4s that were attached at the same point as the front axel. We cheated and used a modern bike chain and chainrings for the drivetrain. Now I wish we had used a rope with wooden beads on it or something a bit more creative. There are pictures of our project, but none on the net. :(

      Overall it was pretty sturdy, but I only rode it for a few days. I didn't dare give it heavy use prior to having the project graded. Then I had to leave campus a few days after it was turned in. It was heavy and not very comfortable to ride but really the lack of steering was the only real deficiency. We couldn't see from the drawing how it would have been steerable. Perhaps with an axle in the frame mounted behind the front wheel. Maybe someday I'll build it right.

      --
      Lasers Controlled Games!
  6. Leonardo's methods are the way forward by Anton+Anatopopov · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Leonardo DaVinci invented many other things apart from bridges. He was one of the first anatomists to draw pictures of the insides of human bodies. He invented the helicopter. He was truly the canonical 'renaissance man'.

    While his designs may not be right for the modern world, the way he dabbled in every form of science was amazing. If only more scientists could see beyond the tunnel-vision of their specialism to get a grasp of the 'big picture' the way Leonardo did.

    Modern scientists such as Professor Stephen Hawking are truly geniusses, but they lack the all round scientific insight to be productive. How many bridges have been built by theoretical physicists ? ;-)

    I think the problem is the education system which forces us by the 'major' system to specialise rather than follow our interests. This has to change as we move forward into the 21st century.

    1. Re:Leonardo's methods are the way forward by Tenebrious1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      ...see beyond the tunnel-vision of their specialism to get a grasp of the 'big picture'

      The problem is, the "big picture" doesn't pay. That type of science is called "blue-sky" research, and there aren't that many companies (besides the US Gov, IBM, GE) that are willing or can afford to maintain such research groups. Unless you specialize, you don't get funding. A lot of researchers would love to be generalists, dabbling in everything and trying to come up with something new. However, unless you pick a specialty, you don't get funding from the school. You don't get research grants. You can't pay off your student loans. So you specialize.

      ...He invented the helicopter.

      No, he designed a non-working machine that sorta looks like a helicopter. He also designed a non-working device that looks like a parachute but would kill the user. I think one of the criteria for an "invention" is that it works. I don't think you can get a US Patent on a non-working device.

      ...How many bridges have been built by theoretical physicists ?

      Every Single One. The designers might not have had a nice shiny plaque on the door that said "theoretical physicist", but the Roman Aquaducts weren't designed by peasants throwing rocks around hoping they would stay together. Even the fallen tree over the stream. Some bright individual had been using deadfalls to cross streams, and thought to himself - "hey, I could cut down a tree and lay it across *myself* instead of having to hike all the way up here". He was a theoretical physicists. So was DaVinci for that matter, although he rarely put theory into practice. Theoretical and physicist are relative terms remember depending on what the general pool of knowledge was in that time period.

      ...forces us... to specialise rather than follow our interests

      Nothing forces you to specialize into something you don't like. You choose your major. You choose the topic for your thesis. You choose which research grants to apply for. You choose which to accept.

      I chose not to pursue a degree in theoretical mathematics. I choose to instead be a dirt poor novelist struggling to pay my massive school loans working as a helpdesk tech. It was my choice to leave the system. Everyone has that choice.

      Not to say the school system doesn't have problems and couldn't use a LOT of reform at the primary and secondary levels. That I don't have an answer for.

      --
      -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
  7. What impresses me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    ...is just the curve of the arc. While I'm no expert on bridges, this looks extraordinarily progressive -- designs like that didn't reappear until the twentieth century.


    Typical Leonardo.

  8. Re:It's not "da Vinci"; it's "Leonardo". by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Leonardo actually signed most of his stuff as Io, Leonardo ("I, Leonardo").

    Until relatively recently, most people were known as So-and-So from Some-Place, possibly with the addition of Son or Daughter of Somebody. There just wasn't enough travel or communication to make any finer-granularity naming scheme necessary.

    To this day Russians use the So-and-so, Son/Daughter of Somebody form, which is the usual adult form of address. Icelanders form names like this too. The Celtic patronymics Mc/Mac are well known.

    Examples: Mikhail Sergeyevich ("son of Sergei") Gorbachev, Bjork Gudmundsdottir.

    In France having la particule "de" in one's name is positively fashionable. People search family trees to find any justification for using it. They may even invent justification: one of Napoleon's colleagues changed his name from Demorny to de Morny.

    All we have in Canada is a popular TV show called Da Vinci's Inquest.

    ...laura of Vancouver, daughter of Dennis