Bridge design – the Spanish approach by Javier Manterola and similarities in Germany

Abstract

For Javier Manterola engineering is both rationality and emotion, function and form, science and art. His bridges combine such classic virtues of structural engineering as efficiency and structural truth with a permanent search for innovation and progress. His work follows a tradition, which before him was defined by the now classic work of Carlos Fernandez Casado and Eduardo Torroja. He has further shaped and evolved this Spanish tradition for decades and sees it now taken over by the next generation. Similarly, in Germany the classic Fritz Leonhardt was followed by Jörg Schlaich, who is of the same age as Javier Manterola, and now the present generation of engineers. The two engineers know and respect each other and there is also a similarity in their approach to bridge design. To illustrate this and to pay tribute to Manterola, some projects by schlaich bergermann partner will be presented here.