Old Jerusalem has a new bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava

Jerusalem - A new landmark in Jerusalem's Old City is the suspension bridge, which will eventually carry a light rail vehicle from today. The author of the design is Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who considers the structure to be one hundred and twenty percent modern, standing next to buildings that are thousands of years old. Most Jerusalemites like the structure, but so far they haven't come up with a name for it. Suggestions have included a ship's sail, a curved claw, and also a big headache, wrote the AP agency.
    The light-weight bridge was officially opened today. It cost 73 million dollars and dominates the view of the historic core of the city. It stands above the western entrance to Jerusalem and is held up by 66 white cables converging to a 118-meter tall mast. This mast surpasses surrounding buildings and is visible from several kilometers away. It thus competes with structures that were built during the reign of King Herod or Suleiman the Magnificent.
    Twenty-seven-year-old Benjamin Nakonešaj, who belongs to the Jerusalem community of Orthodox Jews, likes the bridge, but says it should be located somewhere else. "Jerusalem doesn't need anything like this, we have our own monuments," he said.
    Other city residents are satisfied. "From any angle, it looks like a massive curved claw," declared café owner Jaron Kortik. High school student Ran Jaakovi compares the bridge to the harp of King David, while his peer Orli Marin describes it as a spider's web.
    Calatrava defended his work just before the opening by saying that although the bridge is 120 percent modern, it is still capable of a dialogue with the rest of the city. "Its most important feature is that it is in Jerusalem," said the architect, famous for buildings resembling sculptures. He himself sees a harp or a tent in the desert in the Jerusalem bridge.
    To erect the central pillar, the largest crane available in Israel had to be used. Some of the steel components of the structure were cast in Italy.
    The original intention was much more modest. A simpler concrete bridge was supposed to be built for 30 million dollars. In the end, however, it turned into a prominent project meant to embellish an unattractive part of the city with unsightly residential buildings and hotels. Since the municipality was concerned about the citizens' reaction, it issued a colorful leaflet with a computer-generated model of the entire neighborhood. The bridge will be complemented by two modern high-rise buildings that do not yet exist.
    Moreover, in the future, a track for light rail vehicles is to run over it. However, this project is currently delayed, and its commencement is planned for 2010.
    The most persistent critics attack the high costs of the bridge. According to them, the money could have been used more effectively. Moreover, due to today's ceremony related to the opening of the bridge, the main traffic routes around the area were closed for ten hours, so Jerusalemite Ilan Cohen spoke for all the dissatisfied: "This bridge is just one big headache."