Bridges news roundup

Border Bridge Reflects Dilemma
Plans for $250m bridge to open up impoverished North Korea to trade with China remain on hold. If ever a single bridge could have a huge impact on regional politics, this is one.

Kurilpa Bridge now a work of genius
Brisbane's cat's cradle footbridge collects an Australian Engineering Excellence Award. It had already received Project Infrastructure Excellence and Innovation Awards. As with structures like the Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing, all this tells me is that awards committees think "excellence" is simply the successful realisation of the spectacular. Wasn't there once a time when "innovation" meant achieving something worthwhile rather than simply something new?

Fishy foot-bridge contest in Providence
Columnist suspects design competition was intended to flush away traditional design options in favour of modernist orthodoxy: "All of the bridge designs evoke a narrow, cramped definition of creativity, one that values novelty over continuity."

Thoughtful process for footbridge
Irritated Providence contest jury member replies: "We’ve committed our time and energy to ensure that this competition is a fair, inclusive process that engages the public and results in a bridge that improves the image and identity of the city."