Dragon Bridge (Ljubljana)

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The Dragon Bridge (Slovene: Zmajski most, historically also Zmajev most) is a road bridge located in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It crosses the Ljubljanica River. between Kopitar Street (Kopitarjeva ulica) and Ressel Street (Resljeva cesta), to the north of the Ljubljana Central Market at Vodnik Square. It was built in the beginning of the 20th century, when Ljubljana was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As one of the best examples of reinforced concrete bridges and of the Vienna Secession style, the bridge is today protected as a technical monument. It is intended primarily for motorised traffic. The bridge was originally named The Jubilee Bridge of the Emperor Franz Josef I (Franz Josef I. Jubiläumsbrücke, Slovene: Franca Jožefa I. jubilejni most). In July 1919, it was renamed to Dragon Bridge. The bridge was built as part of a wider urban renovation of the town during the administration of the mayor Ivan Hribar. It replaced an old oak bridge named the Butchers' Bridge (Mesarski most), which was constructed in 1819 and damaged by a severe earthquake in 1895. The new bridge was constructed of reinforced concrete. Janez Koželj, a professor of urban design, expressed in 2010 his opinion that the new technology of reinforced concrete and new static calculations were used in Ljubljana instead of Vienna, because it meant minor consequences if they had not worked. The new bridge was constructed upon the plans of Vienna company Pittel+Brausewetter based on a patent by Austrian engineer Josef Melan and the design by the company's architect Giorgio Zaninovich, the graduate of Otto Wagner's school. The works started on 1 July 1900 and were at first led by Austrian engineer Alexander Zabokrzycky, assisted by Filip Supančič from Ljubljana. After a dispute, the works were in April 1901 taken over by the architect Ciril Metod Koch, also from Ljubljana. The bridge was solemnly opened for traffic on 4 October 1901 by Anton Bonaventura Jeglič, the Bishop of Ljubljana, in the presence of many distinguished guests, including Zaninović, Melan and Brausewetter. The final works were completed until 1907. The dragons were designed by Zaninović and pro

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