YESTERDAY'S, TODAY'S AND TOMORROW'S BRIDGES

THE HISTORY OF THE "CITTADELLA" BRIDGE

The bridge was the only connection between the town and the areas situated on the opposite side of the Tanaro and it was destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly over the centuries.
A passage from Fra Jacopo d'Acqui' s chroniche tells that Charles the Great ordered the building of a big bridge over the river Tanaro near Borgoglio and Rovereto in order to fight against the Saracens. The news is important because it lets us suppose that a bridge, or maybe a river port, could already have been built in that place in the Roman age and the Bergolium camp could check the only available route. But building technology in Charles the Great's time was not in a position to execute the construction of a masonry bridge over a river as wide as the Tanaro, so that bridge had to be a wooden one.

		The first document, containing a reference to the bridge, dates back to 1184 and it is a deed in which the Emperor states his right to collect the toll that became, later, an object of transaction among the rulers of the area. As far as we know, in 1286, the rulers of Alessandria could already liberally make decisions regarding the bridge so that they could transfer the toll-fees to private people in settlement of the debt of the municipality to them. In that period the bridge was a simple wooden temporary bridge.
The wooden bridge

.In 1450 a covered masonry bridge was built thanks to the duke Francesco Sforza who did not collect the duty on butchery for three years. So the people living in Alessandria could use that sum of money to build the first stone bridge in town. But the work ran into a lot of problems. In 1463 the Tanaro and  its floods caused the collapse of the part of the bridge already built; in 1485-1486 the river destroyed four arches of the bridge. In 1472 Bonifacio from Solero succeeded  in finishing the work. In 1509 the bridge was damaged again. In 1542 two arches were destroyed and in 1569 a new flood caused further damage. In 1574 the works of rebuilding began. In 1584 a new flood destroyed one third of the part already rebuilt. At last in 1588 the bridge was finished. The final check was made by engineer Roberto Clerici. In the following years (1603 – 1604) new works were necessary in order to repair its floor and the roof. In 1707 the bridge partly collapsed.

The covered bridge and the floating mills on the river Tanaro, first half of the 17th century (Archivio Storico del Comune di Alessandria)

In 1709 the bridge was again partially destroyed by the Tanaro and they decided to rebuild a wooden bridge instead of a stone one. In 1731 the bridge had been rebuilt but not everybody liked that solution. In 1746 the bridge was blown up by the Savoy garrison in Cittadella for defence. In 1774 - 1776 the bridge was rebuilt in brick according to engineer Gianotti's plan.

In 1780 the covering had been completed, too. In the Napoleonic age the arches were strengthed and a protected passage was created according to engineer Chasseloup's plan. On 2nd August 1848, the covering was demolished by the soldiers and in 1889 the building of the present bridge started amidst controversy. The municipality strengthened in its own opinion and the new bridge was opened on 18th December 1891.