Bridges news roundup

This Beautiful Footbridge Is Inspired by Japanese Hand Fans
If you had to design a bridge to grab the attention of buzz-conscious architecture websites, you might come up with this cute little thing.

‘Prague: Bridge-Building over the Vltava River’ Competition Entry / Juráš Lasovský
If you've ever actually been to Prague, try to imagine this design contest leftover ever actually being built there.

"Bouncy" footbridge set for strengthening
I visited this bridge at Pitlochry last year, and confirmed that it is indeed prone to bounciness, with a resonant frequency of about 1.7-1.8 Hz. For its 100th anniversary, it has been announced that it will receive "some upgrading and strengthening works to accommodate modern loading standards". Hopefully that's not really true - it has survived a century and it's hard to see that modern loads are anything worse than what it has already withstood.

Opladen Bridge Opening Ceremony
Very interesting design for a new footbridge, by Knippers Helbig with Knight Architects.

River Thames Reading footbridge consultation begins
Thin and pointy.

Leaving his mark
Kettuvallam Bridge is P.S. Binoy's "claim to immortality as an architect".

The Golden Gate of Helsinki
A winner in the Kruunusillat bridge design competition is due to be announced this month, although, as this article makes clear, not only is the bridge yet to have any funding committed, the promoter is even considering changing what the bridge carries, to allow highway traffic.

Work resumes on cycle and pedestrian bridge in Hereford
After the unfortunate news that leading UK steel footbridge fabricator Rowecord had gone into administration, it looked like the project might stall, but now progress has resumed. Herefordshire Council has further information.

Pedestrian bridge design unveiled
Designs for a new bridge at Penrith near Sydney, Australia show a garish yellow truss that looks like a jib which has fallen off a tower crane. More images at the Penrith Star.

Controversy over bridge which spans M8 in Glasgow
I have to say, nothing is more tedious than a futile debate about whether a bridge's disability-compliance is satisfied by whether its slope is exactly 1:20 or less. I remember having to meet that requirement on a bridge design once, for a bridge where the ground at either end sloped by more.

Lingzidi Bridge / Rural Urban Framework
Highly architected concrete is not the usual choice for a rural bridge, but may be a robust and durable solution for this bridge in China.

Fictional bridges on Euro banknotes constructed in Rotterdam
Everything that's wrong with post-modernism in one place.

Bowstring arch bridge in Japan
I really don't understand what the designers of this bridge were thinking.

Intersection bridge in Japan
And this one is even more baffling, it really has to be seen ...