Severed since 1811 when one of the arches was destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars, the Pont Trencat, around fifty kilometres outside Barcelona, was restored just a few years ago. A detailed geological study of the ruins and extended research into historic documents to understand the morphology made it possible to reconstruct the path of the bridge and the shape of the missing part, almost certainly a pointed or semicircular arch.

To highlight the intervention, engineering practices Xavier Font Solà and Alfa Polaris SL (who worked alongside Sapic, Tamansa and Arcelor) chose to use a material that provided a strong contrast but at the same time was in tune with the stone ruins, weathering steel, a special steel that develops a patina when exposed to atmospheric agents. This has two advantages, as well as forming a protective film, this layer of oxidation gives the material an unusual and ‘warm’ colour.

In 2003, after almost two centuries, the bridge connected once again the banks of the river Tordera and the villages of Sant Celoni and Santa Maria de Palautordera (Associazione Pont Romà 2000), who both commissioned and sponsored the project.

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