Architecture
The Dragon Bridge, although significantly modelled after the Nußdorf weir, is often regarded as the most beautiful bridge produced by the Vienna Secession. It is the first bridge in Slovenia paved with asphalt, the first reinforced concrete bridge in Ljubljana, and one of Europe's earliest reinforced concrete bridges. When opened in 1901, it had the third largest arch in Europe at that time. The bridge is built to the Melan System invented by Josef Melan, which gained popularity particularly in the United States and Germany because the bridges could be built without a supporting stage. Rigid truss arches made of iron are set into the reinforced concrete bridge. The load-bearing core of the bridge were the truss iron frames during construction. After concreting these became a part of the supporting structure.
Dragon Bridge is a triple-hinged arch bridge and has a span of 33.34 metres (109 ft 5 in). Its style was designed by Jurij Zaninović. He envisaged the concrete covering, the balustrades and the sheet-copper dragon statues of the bridge, which became a symbol of the city. The chief attraction of the bridge are these four dragon statues standing on pedestals at its four corners. In addition, the bridge is decorated by sixteen smaller dragon statues.
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