Back in November, I mentioned a footbridge design competition being held in the town of Maribor, Slovenia. This is part of a trio of contests seeking enhancements to the townscape in advance of Maribor becoming European Capital of Culture in 2012. I complained at the time that the competition was open only to registered architects, although I believe they did reverse that ruling before entries had to be submitted in February.
Anyway, results have now been announced. It was a popular competition, with 124 entries (even more for their contest for a new art gallery, which garnered 217). Three entrants have been given a share of the prize fund, with two others singled out for honourable mentions. Click on any image for a larger version.
Winner
Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos / Idom (Spain)
This design is a three-span girder bridge, with timber-clad steel edge girders, and arrays of inclined stainless steel tubular piles forming the piers. The spans seem to be sympathetic to the existing three-span arch bridge a short distance away, and it seems a modest but well-detailed proposal.
2nd prize
Viktor Markelj and others (Slovenia)
This is a single span steel box girder arch bridge, with semi-glazed balustrades. Again, it's attractive and almost utopian in its simplicity, although I wonder whether the ground conditions are suitable for an arch of this span, with the foundations illustrated looking somewhat unconvincing.
3rd prize
José María Sánchez García and others (Spain)
I find it hard to believe there weren't more convincing entries than this, a tall, presumably steel, truss structure with walkways on three levels (including high-level links further into town away from the river banks). The illustrations are unconvincing, structurally, and it's hard not to think it spoils the views of the existing bridge.
Honorable mention
Gentiane Desveaux and others (France)
This is a two-span steel space truss supporting an interestingly shaped promenade. I like the organic, flowing form, but the choice of span arrangement seems as arbitrary as the deck geometry.
Honorable mention
Gašper Premože / Andraž Tarman (Slovenia)
So far as I can tell, this is actually a boat platform connected to a control rope, essentially a variant on the traditional idea of a rope ferry. It's always good to see a brief being challenged: is a bridge really the right answer? But it's also hard to see this as the sort of permanent addition to the town that best exploits the opportunity for European funding.
Brain is hidden Underneath
ReplyDeleteThe bridge is so-called integral structure, without bearings and expansion joints. Also, the bridge foundation (the lower part of the frame with piles) is essentially the main component of the framework structure.
Foundations internally drawn under the river have a function of reducing the loads in the frame, because the own weight of concrete abutments creates a moment, which raise the middle part and reduces the deformations and internal loads in the field. In this way the Earth’s gravity replaces the artificial function of cables for prestressing.
On each side 4 piles with a diameter of 1.5 m and length of approximately 15m are needed (depending on the geology)
Building such a foundations does not require the intervention in backside of river banks, where normally, parallel with the river a lot of municipal installations takes place. This is one of the main structural advantages of this solution.