Riccardo Morandi

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Riccardo Morandi (1 September 1902 - 25 December 1989) was an important Italian civil and structural engineer. Amongst his best known works was the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge, an 8km crossing of Lake Maracaibo incorporating seven cable-stayed bridge spans with unusual piers.

Following graduation in 1927, Morandi gained experience in Calabria, designing churches and, after his return to Rome, cinemas. He was later appointed as a professor in bridge design both in Florence and Rome.

Other key works include:

Ponte Amerigo Vespucci, Florence, Italy, 1957
Catanzaro Viaduct, Catanzaro, Italy, 1960
Kinnaird Bridge, Canada, 1960
Polcevera Viaduct, Genoa, Italy, 1968, four cable-stayed spans
Wadi Kuf bridge, Libya, 1971, three cable-stayed spans
Carpineto Bridge, Poetenza, Italy, 1973, three cable-stayed spans
Barranquilla Bridge, Magdalena River, Colombia, 1974

Morandi's cable-stayed bridges are characterised by very few stays, often as few as two per span, and often with the stays constructed from prestressed concrete rather than the more usual steel cables. Although these bridges are often impressive, they are less economic than bridges with multiple stays and have therefore been of little influence on other engineers.^[1]