Pedestrian Bridge in Weiden

Designed to provide children with a safe route to school across a busy road, the bridge, roughly 83 metres long, swings up from a solid abutment on one side and descends in a spiral form on the other, where it is suspended from a single pylon. It was not possible to construct ramps at this point, since it was necessary to preserve an existing biotope. The curved, framed lattice girder supporting the bridge is constructed with tubular members in a torsionally rigid form. It is covered with rib-reinforced metal sheets with a finishing layer of quartz sand bonded with epoxy-polyurethane. The asymmetric girder is suspended not from cables but from steel rods, since these reduce vibration and the potential swaying effect, as well as lending the structure a bolder appearance. At the top of the pylon, the rods are fixed with forked fittings hinged in a single direction. At the bottom, they are flexibly fixed in all directions to the bridge girder. In this way, it was possible to avoid constriction on the rods, which are screw-fixed through a sphere at the base to allow for vertical adjustment. Tapering towards the top, the pylon is slightly inclined and rigidly anchored in the foundations. At three points, the suspension rods extend down to the ground, where they are anchored in bored piles and form additional stays. Lamps at the top of the pylon illuminate the bridge at night. The steel structure is protected with corrosion-resistant paint. The balustrade members are in stainless steel.