Rediscovery of the Great Architect’s Bridge: Mimar Sinan Bridge, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

A bridge is an important element of transportation which improves the accessibility of a location. Before the Industrial Revolution, stone masonry arch construction was the preferred method of construction of bridges with the longest spans and the highest durability. Multiple arches provided the solution when a single arch was insufficient to provide the required span. Bridge design required thorough consideration of the seismicity, geology, hydrology, bathymetry, and topography of the particular region, along with considerations of the functional and architectural design requirements of the bridge. This paper introduces for the first time a new concept of an “intermittent-bridge” and presents a technical inquiry into historical design considerations and contemporary protective and maintenance efforts for a sixteenth-century, multi-arch masonry intermittent-bridge built in Istanbul during the epoch of the Ottoman empire by the chief imperial architect, or mimar, Sinan.