Ponte Carlo Alberto

The Carlo Alberto Bridge crosses the Bormida beside Acqui Terme's thermal district. Begun in 1836 and completed in 1850, it stands near the surviving Roman aqueduct, bringing two very different periods of engineering into the same river landscape.

Why it matters

The crossing belongs to the nineteenth-century development of Acqui as a spa town. Its construction was interrupted when floodwater caused a collapse, a reminder of the difficulty of maintaining a reliable connection across the Bormida. The bridge's name preserves its association with the Savoy monarchy.

What to notice

The bridge and the nearby Roman pillars belong to separate structures and separate purposes: one crosses the river for transport, while the other carried water towards ancient Aquae Statiellae. The surviving aqueduct sections include stone piers and arches, creating a striking contrast with the later crossing. Together they express the town's long relationship with water, both as a resource and as an obstacle.

Context and history

Fourteen years separate the beginning and completion of the bridge works. The project was promoted during Carlo Alberto's reign and finished in 1850, after his death. Later nineteenth-century changes to Acqui's public spaces and thermal establishments continued the modernisation of the spa city. The bridge belongs to the earlier phase of that transformation, rather than to the rebuilding of the Bollente area in the 1870s.