 Only two years to go!
The Prototype of the Archimedes Bridge – an Italian technology and an innovative alternative to traditional bridges for crossing straits and narrow water bodies – will be unveiled far away from the place where it was conceived: Italy.
SIJLAB (Sino-Italian Joint Laboratory of the Archimedes Bridge), which is responsible for putting the idea into practice, has just held its third round of meetings. SIJLAB is the product of a technical, academic and cultural alliance between a group of Italian partners, including Ponte de Archimede S.p.A., under its Chairman Elio Matacena, and the Milan Polytechnic and the “Federico II” University of Naples, and a pool of Chinese partners, headed by the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) joined earlier this year.
SIJLAB is financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences under the Science and Technology Cooperation Protocol concluded between Italy and China.
The recent meeting of four days of intense scientific work, was held at Qiandao Lake City (the City of the Lake of a Thousand Islets) because the project is for permanent underwater link crossing the lake. Italy was represented at the meeting by Professors Antonio Fiorentino and Federico Mazzolani from “Federico II” University, Naples, and Professor Federico Perotti from the Milan Polytechnic, while China was represented by Professors Li Jiachum, Hong Youshi (Director of the Institute of Mechanics, CAS) and Liang Naigang, together with a large team of researchers. Also attending, as observers, were Professor Roberto Coisson, the Science and Technology Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in Beijing, Professor Ma Jain, the representative of the UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) office in China and an Indonesian delegation, which included the engineers, Basuki Ribono and Bambang Rumanto, representing an Indonesian governmental technology transfer agency and an Indonesian private construction company.
According to Professor Mezzolani, who this year was appointed to chair the SIJLAB Executive Board, “With the right financing schedule, once the design phase is completed in March 2007, it will take another year to construct the prototype; but research will move ahead in parallel on the aspects needed to develop wider ‘Archimedes Bridges’ in different and less ‘ideal’ environments. Reproducing the Sino-Italian research formula, it will be implemented under a joint venture between Italian (or European) construction companies as general contractors and Chinese companies as subcontractors, to enable construction “cultures” to contribute towards the world’s first example in the history of civil engineering for crossing straits which will revolutionise the course of history.”
The presence of the Indonesian delegation and the UNIDO representative was a demonstration of the interest that the “Archimedes Bridge” has aroused in Asia. The head of the delegation, Mr Rumanto, voiced this interest when he declared that the national “dream” was to link his country's two largest islands, Java and Sumatra, which are separated by a 30 km expanse of sea; at the present stage of the studies, the more realistic idea would appear to be the construction of a 4 km submerged permanent link between Java and Bali.
One very important aspect of this has been the linkage with the local political authorities at an ad hoc meeting attended, among other people, by the Governor of Chun’an County, of which Qiandao Lake City is the capital. Their administrative support is crucially important when moving from the drawing board to the project construction stage. Their interest reflects the will to enhance what is already China's leading tourism resort by achieving a technological record: building the world’s very first Archimedes Bridge.
The agreement develops along a number of different avenues: the Chinese researchers have submitted various scientific papers on crucial issues regarding floating tunnels, including structural studies of the impact of waves and currents, and earthquakes. Within a year, the overall prototype design can be considered ready for presentation to the next meeting of SIJLAB scheduled to be held at the Milan Polytechnic in March 2007.
As Professor Hong said, “The Chinese scientists are proud that the world’s first project of this kind is being implemented in their country, confirming the propensity for innovation pursued by the Chinese government and its substantial contribution to it. The scientific joint-venture between Italian and Chinese researchers is working very harmoniously, and I trust that this will be the prelude to an exchange of researchers before the two Italian universities and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.”
Professor Roberto Coisson said that the meeting was “very concrete, which shows that the Chinese are very keen on this project, because it is a country that sets great store by technological experimentation.” And Professor Fiorentino, the head of the Italian delegation emphasised that, “this meeting in loco was very useful, because it has enabled us to see for ourselves the environment into which the project has to fit. Only a submerged floating structure would avoid upsetting the harmony of this unusually beautiful and delicate environment, which is a real life replica of an ancient Chinese silk print with its mountain peaks emerging from the mists.”
“What has been achieved so far,” said Professor Perotti, “demonstrates that SIJLAB – as a melting pot of data, research, and design experience for both countries involved – can also be a solid springboard for the dissemination of “Archimedes Bridge” type constructions elsewhere in the world."
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