Thirty-Three Bridge Writhes in Pain

The metro tunnel excavation and successive droughts of the Zayandeh River have tormented the “Thirty-Three Bridge” so severely that cracks have threatened the life of one of the most beautiful Safavid-era bridges; cracks and, of course, ground subsidence.

“Alireza Rohani,” chairman of the coordination council of cultural heritage, handicrafts, and tourism organizations of the country, brings even more bitter news to Iran newspaper. The droughts and land subsidence in Isfahan have not only targeted the “Thirty-Three Bridge,” but according to him, all Safavid bridges built over the Zayandeh River are at risk of subsidence. “Shahram Amiri,” director of international affairs at the Isfahan Cultural Heritage Organization, referring to the normality of cracks in historic bridges given water level fluctuations, washes his hands of responsibility and says: “Cultural heritage can work in the field of treatment, not prevention.”

Thirty-Three Bridge: A Victim of Mismanagement

According to Rohani, the condition of the Thirty-Three Bridge is worse than other Safavid bridges that attract many tourists from around the world to Isfahan each year.

The Thirty-Three Bridge suffers not only from drought and seasonal water cutoffs on the Zayandeh River. The damage was first inflicted by the metro tunneling equipment, causing cracks to appear much sooner than drought alone could have caused them.

The Isfahan Metro, before reaching the Thirty-Three Bridge, dried up parts of the Chahar Bagh. Expert warnings and efforts by cultural heritage activists and media outlets took those responsible to court, but this did not result in protecting cultural heritage from the damage of development. The blade of development continued to wound the Safavid heritage. The metro under the management of “Hamid Baqaei” at the Cultural Heritage Organization during the previous government reached the Thirty-Three Bridge, causing cracks to ravage one of the country’s most beautiful historic bridges.

This incident occurred as a result of a computational error. Although some of the public claimed there was a “treasure” under the Thirty-Three Bridge and the excavated section, this matter was always treated as a joke by those implementing the project. According to Rohani, the excavation equipment, through a deviation, reached the “ramp” of the Thirty-Three Bridge and operations were halted.

The implementers found themselves in a predicament for a long time! The German drilling equipment could not move backward. It would have had to be extracted vertically from the ground, but this would cost a great deal and risked extensive damage to the Thirty-Three Bridge.

According to Rohani, they ultimately decided to continue the route and pass it under private buildings. This matter also required parliamentary approval.

Rohani says: “This happened under a news blackout. They didn’t even allow many council members to be informed about this incident.” After that, the new station was built a few meters above the Thirty-Three Bridge station.

Rohani says: “To build the first station, part of the Chahar Bagh trees were cut down. After two years of expenditure, they moved toward building a new station. Another section of the Chahar Bagh trees (from the Safavid era) was also cut down for the new station construction. The same cost was incurred again.” Ultimately, the metro route was excavated 40 meters from the Thirty-Three Bridge, which according to experts loosened the ground, allowing subsidence in this area to damage Isfahan’s history. Therefore, the metro first hollowed out the ground beneath the Thirty-Three Bridge, but the bitter scenario was drawn for this historic bridge by dam construction, water diversion for industries, and so on.

The condition of the Thirty-Three Bridge is dangerous.

Rohani recalls the aerial map of Isfahan and says: “If one looks at the aerial map of Isfahan and the Zayandeh River bed, it becomes clear that this river flows as a straight line through the city, but when it reaches the Thirty-Three Bridge, it curves.”

According to him: “All of Isfahan’s bridges, especially the Safavid bridges built over the Zayandeh River bed, have their foundations built on a rocky bed. The Thirty-Three Bridge is the only bridge not built on a rocky bed, because they wanted to connect the backbone of Safavid Isfahan (Chahar Bagh-e Abbasi and Chahar Bagh-e Bala) through the Thirty-Three Bridge, so they diverted the Zayandeh River to build the Thirty-Three Bridge on a sandy and silty bed.”

For this reason, the Safavids drove piles 30 meters deep under the bridge’s foundations. This is where the life of this bridge depends on water. Rohani emphasizes: “The durability of the mortar in the foundations of the Thirty-Three Bridge depends on water. When water does not reach this mortar, it causes the foundations to crack and the bridge to subside.” Experts before Rohani and in past years have also warned about the shock of cutting off and resuming water flow in the Zayandeh River on the foundations of the Thirty-Three Bridge: “This continuous flow constantly damages the Thirty-Three Bridge.”

Warnings that, of course, did not cure the pain of the Zayandeh River and its historic bridges. Rice continues to be grown in Isfahan. Industries in Isfahan not only did not retreat, but in response to protests, a new phase of water-intensive industries moved from Isfahan to Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari so that everything would be consumed from the source of water.

Rohani also considers the movement of heavy machinery over the Thirty-Three Bridge as one of the causes of today’s cracks. The passage of vehicles over the Thirty-Three Bridge was halted in the decades after the revolution, but according to Rohani, it left its mark in creating this deep wound. According to him, all these issues hand in hand caused the Thirty-Three Bridge to writhe in pain from countless cracks, cracks that have spread so extensively that they have affected other Zayandeh River bridges, including the wooden bridge or “Jouy” bridge, Khaju bridge, and others.

Cracking of Historic Bridges Is Inevitable

“Shahram Amiri,” director of international affairs at the Isfahan Cultural Heritage Organization, considers the cracking of historic bridges and other historic structures inevitable and normal. This very situation led to the formation of the “Committee for Monitoring Historic Bridges of Isfahan” in late last year. Amiri says: “Therefore, monitoring measures on 11 existing bridges along the Zayandeh River axis have been put on the agenda.” According to Amiri, in the latest action, the “Jouy” bridge in Isfahan was monitored and restoration measures were carried out on this bridge. Despite this, the public asks: Is there really no way to prevent the cracking of Safavid monuments, which are one of Iran’s recognized signatures in the world?! Should we witness the death of historic bridges after the Zayandeh River?

Source: IRNA