Ura e Zogut – work journal of Gerold Schnitter

← Ura e Zogut – work journal of Gerold Schnitter

By Lars | Published 16. Jun 2024

Gerold Schnitter’s Work Journal (1927): Ura e Zogut calculations and drafts from the ETH Zurich archives

Gerold Schnitter’s Work Journal (1927): Ura e Zogut calculations and drafts from the ETH Zurich archives

Gerold Schnitter
Lavori eseguiti e progetti compilati (di) Gerold Schnitter, ingegnere, presso Mazarano e Co. (Triest)
ca. 1925 – 1929
From the Archives of ETH Zurich (Hs 1391:56)

Several engineers were involved in the construction of the Ura e Zogut over the River Mat in Northern Albania in the years 1926 and 1927. Until today, it is not definitely clear, who played wich role. The Italian construction firm Ing. Mazorana & Co. from Trieste was in charge of the construction of the bridge. Construction plans in the archives in Tirana show a signature by German engineer professor Emil Mörsch of the Technischen Hochschule Stuttgart (Technical Highschool Stuttgart). On the construction site, Swiss engineer Erwin Schnitter overlooked the work. In his report about the construction of the bridge, he doesn’t mention Mörsch, but his younger brother Gerold Schnitter. Gerold Schnitter was also working for Mazorana from 1925 until 1929 and became later a professor at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (Federal Technical Highschool Zurich, Switzerland). In the university’s archives, I’ve found his work journal. It is a clear record for Gerold Schnitter’s involvement in the project, most probably focussing on calculations regarding costs, pressure, raw materials and supplies. The last page summaries the 1927 projects for a bridge over river Gjola – „Ura [e] Gjolës“ West of Fushë-Kruja (68 m) and for the „Ura Lesh“ resp. „Ponte di Alessio“, a bridge of 119 m in the centre of the city of Lezhë over the Old Drin River. Lars Haefner, Zurich, June 2024

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