Da Vinci`s Bridge may appear in Istanbul

A bridge project reportedly developed by Leonardo Da Vinci for Istanbul`s Golden Horn will be constructed by an international volunteer group as a present to Istanbul, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has announced.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Oct. 21 during a ceremony to celebrate the arrival of water pumped from the Bosphorus into the Golden Horn that a pedestrian bridge designed by Da Vinci in the 16th century but never realized would be built without any cost to the municipality.

According to a written statement from the municipality, the first sketches of the bridge, based on an improved version of Da Vinci`s bridge with respect to the latest technology, have been submitted to the Cultural Wealth Protection Committee.

The statement said the project was the result of collaboration between a group of volunteers from different countries, such as Norwegian sculptor and painter Vebjorn Sand, U.S.-based Turkish physics professor Bülent Ataman, Indian opera writer Daniel Nazareth and international affairs specialist Melinda Iverson. The volunteer group has been working on the project over the last three years.

Funded by local and international sponsors, the bridge will be 220 meters long, 10 meters wide and 25 meters at its highest point above the sea.