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PROJECT MANAGEMENT | RISK MANAGEMENT | TRAVEL | HISTORY
The Project, the Devil and the Dog
How many Italian bridges belong to the devil?
The first Devil’s bridge I ever crossed is in Cividale, near my home town, and it has a fascinating legend about its name. I later discovered that the story is an archetype shared with many others and, quite ironically, the most ancient bridge sharing this legend is not called Devil’s bridge.
St. Maddalena’s bridge, near Lucca (Tuscany), is a true engineering wonder built around 1080–1100. Like all of the other Devil’s Bridges, it has a nice legend.
The ability to take calculated risks is a necessary skill for a Project Manager, but the master builder went a bit too far. When he realized that he would not complete the bridge on time, he swore so much that the devil decided to visit him and offer a deal: the bridge would be ready in one day, in exchange for the soul of the first traveler who would cross the bridge.
The master builder accepted and, being a good man, he also devised a brilliant stratagem: once the bridge was completed, he sent a dog to cross the bridge. The devil, furious for having been outsmarted, threw himself into the river and never came back. The ghost of the poor dog is said to haunt the bridge on…
