Bridge Splavarska Brv Lent-Tabor
Maribor's coachmen were the most delighted when in1912 the Austrians opened the now Stari Most - the ‘Old Bridge’ - over theDrava River, replacing the wooden bridge that had caused an annoying bottleneckon the busy road from Vienna to Trieste. The Stari Most, which links thedistricts of Lent and Tabor north and south of the river at its highest point,eventually became a symbol of the city, even though it left the banks of theDrava disconnected at the lowest point. The new Splavarska pedestrian bridge nowlinks the two banks again in close proximity to the ‘Old Bridge’. Next to it,the new bridge is silent, underlines the presence of the metal structure of theold bridge in the city and distinguishes itself from it with a differentmaterial. Entirely wrapped in wood - on the inside in azobe and on the outsidein stained larch - it pays a muted homage to the activity of the raftsmen whotraditionally linked the two shores and acquires an archaic and timelesscharacter.
Its wooden planks will soon acquire a greyish and imprecise colour that willmake it better and better every day, dissolving in time its material andstructural expression. Thus, too, it will be reminiscent of the large logs thatonce flowed down the Drava from the mountain logging operations, or of thewooden bridge that stood where the new one now stands, providing a recognisableimage that is already part of Maribor's memory.
Thebridge has an arched profile formed by two steel girders on either side of thedeck. It has a total length of 132 metres and three spans of just over 42metres, and rests in the riverbed on two sets of piers, each consisting ofseven slender galvanised steel tubes of varying inclinations, the lightness ofwhich allows the bridge to float weightlessly over the river. The Splavarska isabstract, does not show its load-bearing structure - unlike the Stari Most -,has a unique character and a clear identity, and can be seen as ‘halfway’between the natural and the artificial. In addition, it reiterates itsconnective function by incorporating a sophisticated version of the ‘tintelephone’ of children's experiments with a taut steel cable and two glasses integratedinto the ends of the parapet that make the passage over the river also aplayful experience.
