Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 28. (1999) – Urbanizáció a dualizmus korában: konferencia Budapest egyesítésének 125. évfordulója tiszteletére a Budapesti Történeti Múzeumban

A VÁROSI ÁTALAKULÁS KÉRDÉSEI ÉS SZÍNTEREI - Szabó László: "Hídjai éltetik az ország fővárosát..." 67-85

LÁSZLÓ SZABÓ 'THE BRIDGES OF BUDAPEST GIVE LIFE TO HUNGARY'S CAPITAL.

.." SUMMARY Public roads and crossing points along those roads (shallows, ferries, passage boats, and bridges) are the most ancient facilitators of transportation. Considering their basic function, they are technical creations. This basic function serves an eternal human desire: travel, the means of cultural and economic transfer. The settlement history on the Budapest Danube bank can be traced back to prehistoric ages. Every settled culture recognized and took advantage of its natural geographical potentials, as well as its trade and strategic significance. The control of the crossing points, their military occupation, the establishment of bridge-posts and their defence, along with tolltaking later, and the construction and maintenance of permanent crossing places, (i.e. bridges) were all crucial factors for a settlement. In our presentation, we examine how Buda, Pest and Old Buda utilized the technical possibilities provided by crossing points, which then led to trade and military functions. The overview follows the technical history, starting with the crossing points protected by the fort systems [limes] of the Roman border and the medieval ferry-boats, all the way to pontoon-bridges and ferries. A review of the earliest designs all the way to the construction of permanent bridges also follows. In our outline of European technical progress, we also try to include all the constructions which were built along the Budapest Danube bank, such as the Chain Bridge, along with the Háros and Lágymányos Bridges. When constructing wide-spanning structures, architects must consider various options for existing materials of the age, in a creative manner. This is why we also have to examine how new building materials and technologies appear and mix with the traditional ones. The emergence of new materials (iron, steel, concrete, reinforced concrete) have opened new perspectives in structural design, but at the same time, these new materials create new requirements for building material production as well. 85