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Stone Bridge of Regensburg: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Digitally Preserved

German Medieval Bridge now archived with CyArk

Official CyArk Post

By: Justin Barton

June 9th, 2009

Stone Bridge of Regensburg: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Digitally Preserved

The Old Stone Bridge of Regensburg, which has been closed to all vehicular traffic since 2008 due to stability concerns.

Photo-textured 3D point cloud of the Old Stone Bridge of Regensburg.

Stone-by-stone architectural drawing of the stone bridge, to be used by conservation specialists for planning refits.

In May 2008 a highly skilled 3D survey team from the German firm Christofori und Partner travelled to the historic city of Regensburg, Germany. Regensburg has over 1000 historic landmarks within its �old city�, which has led to this important cultural center being enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Christofori und Partner digitally documented the Old Stone Bridge, spanning across the Danube River, which is considered a masterpiece of medieval engineering. The documentation data will be used to aid conservators in their refit plans for this 800+ year-old bridge which has suffered over the centuries from time, the elements, and extensive traffic.

This historically significant bridge was used as a template throughout medieval Europe and can now be viewed in its current condition in spectacular photo-textured 3D point clouds and detailed, stone-by-stone architectural drawings on the CyArk archive. We launched the project on Saturday, June 6, 2009 to coincide with Germany�s annual UNESCO World Heritage Day celebration, in which the enlisted German sites are celebrated and house special events�this year taking place June 6-7, 2009. This annual event is sponsored by the German Commission for UNESCO and the German UNESCO World Heritage Sites Association and more information can be found on their website.