River Douglas Bridge competition winner announced

The title says it all: Arup & JDA Architects have won the River Douglas footbridge competition. As predicted here in September, the winning design is a stressed-ribbon footbridge supported on an arch.

The bridge has a structural steel arch, with the deck made from precast concrete segments hung on steel tendons. The competition entry [PDF] suggested that struts between the ends of the ribbon and the arch springings will provide self-anchoring and balance internal load effects, but in this type of design there are still substantial vertical forces at the ends which have to be anchored into the ground.

The £3m bridge's next challenge is for the promoters to actually find the money to build it.