More controversy on the Calatrava bridge

The Calatrava bridge is making headlines once more in Venice. This time it's the delay in the scheduled inauguration on Saturday of the "Ovovia"  (translation=gondola)  which has been installed on the side of the bridge to transport handicapped people from one side to the other. The problem is the ovovia has not yet passed all of  it's functional  tests. What's absolutely laughable about this is this Pod-like thing has been in the works for around 2 years already, and is estimated to be around 80 percent over budget, according to local papers.


                                               


This bridge, also known as the Ponte della Costituzione (Constitution Bridge) opened to the public on September 11, 2008 amidst massive controversy. Firstly, the bridge was not constructed for handicap accessibility. Secondly, many felt this bridge was not necessary as it is so closely located to the existing Ponte degli Scalzi. Thirdly, the bridge's very contemporary design is not in keeping with any of Venice's architecture. All three of these issues get my dander up.

I would love to know what these bridge designers were thinking when they came up with this pod as a solution for handling wheelchairs. The pod hangs over the side of the bridge. What handicapped person in their right mind would get into this contraption for a ride hanging over the Grand Canal???? It's  more like an amusement park ride. Seriously. Who is going to get in it?  And then there is the question of whether the pod will be accessible 24/7.  Do they have to hire Pod operators who are specially trained to run the thing?  Seems to me they could have hired a whole staff of porters to push anyone in a wheelchair across the bridge for a whole lot less than constructing this non-functional pod.

Not withstanding this new pod thing and the issues surrounding it's viability and costs, the bridge has other issues. In cold weather, ice forms on the steps which make it hazardous and barely passable.  On normal days, the steps themselves are dangerous because of the abnormal height and length of the each one. It's impossible to walk over the bridge using a normal gait, thus if you aren't extremely careful you will trip and fall down.  And, this one is the best in my opinion, the steps that are made of glass are broken frequently.  Why have glass steps when you have to cover them up with temporary metal sheets ?  I wonder how much each glass step costs to replace?

My "quasi" Venetian-ness rears it's ugly head whenever I think about this bridge.  Venice has many other critical issues to deal with, probably most important is the problem of rapidly declining population.

Ponte della Costituzione

It seems Ponte della Costituzione just can't stay out of the news.  Not even a year ago, it made local headlines when a group of local boys drove a small car over the bridge.  This week, it's a damaged marble piece on the Piazzale Roma side of the bridge. It makes me sad to see this as I pass by each day. I wonder how in the world anyone managed to break off a piece of marble.  And I wonder how it will be repaired, if at all. For a bridge so new, it certainly has it's share of problems. 

Handicap accessibility for the Ponte della Costituzione

When the new glass bridge, Ponte della Costituzione, opened in September 2009, the fact that it was not handicapped accessible quickly became a huge controversy.  Free vaporetto service was offered between Piazzale Roma and the train station to handicapped travelers in an attempt to remedy the situation.  Not long afterward, the bridge began to be retrofitted to transport the handicapped across the bridge. 

I've been watching the construction for months, eager to be able to blog about it.  For a long time, all I could see was a red pod-like contraption sitting at the base of the bridge on the train station side of the canal.  There was construction going on, slowly, on the edge of the right side of the bridge, but it was hidden from view behind a large cloth cover.  Being able to see this pod made me very curious about how this would all work. I envisioned this pod being moved across the outer edge of the bridge, hanging over the water, but quickly discounted that. Couldn't be, I thought. 

In the last week, I've been able to catch some good photos of the new handicap system on the bridge as the work gets closer to completion. Still no announcements about an opening date, but I sense it's not too far off now.  

The pod starts out on the ground, where I imagine they will load a handicapped person with wheelchair into the contraption. It will obviously require an operator who will elevate the pod up to the bridge level. Once there, it will traverse along the outside of the right side of the bridge, over the open water across to the other side. Once on the Piazzale Roma side, the operator will lower the pod to the ground where the passenger will be able to disembark.   I've made the assumption that an operator will be required to run this gadget. I don't imagine any person unfamiliar with this would be able to enter the pod and figure out how to raise/lower it, or get it across the bridge.  I'll be curious to learn if my assumptions are correct. I'll find out soon enough. 

Here are a few of my photos from the other day.  They must have been testing out the raising/lowering of the pod. I'd never seen it off the ground before.  

Maybe it's just me, but I just don't see many handicapped travelers arriving in Venice for the first time being brave enough to travel across this bridge, hanging over the Grand Canal.  Can't wait to see how this all turns out.