task:
Cycle and footbridge
client:
City of Science Darmstadt
cooperation:
netzwerkarchitekten and TRAGRAUM Ingenieure
procedure type:
competition for realization 2005, 1st prize
size:
350 m length
completion:
02.12.2020
technical planner:
Tragraum (structural engineering) |
photos:
Jörg Hempel, Aachen
The new bridge crosses the main road into the city of Darmstadt providing for pedestrians and bicycles a connection between the main railway station and the new business district in the south.
The aim was to preserve as many trees as possible. For this reason, the bridge curves elegantly over the Rheinstrasse meandering as a continouos ramp between the trees. To shortcuts are offered for pedestrians on both sides of the main road whilst people with reduced mobility and cyclists comfortably are crossing the Rheinstrasse on the long spiral ramps.
The shape of the bridge also develops from a trough construction that rests on V-shaped double supports. The outside of the trough is rhythmised by the encircling u-shaped ribs and is uniformly kept in a discreet grey. The different light and shadow effects of the exterior structural metal sheets change the view in the course of the day and clarify the dynamic guidance of the bridge curves.
From every perspective, the geometric course of the winding structure also reveals glimpses of the bright red interior of the trough. This red accompanies the user on his way from the main station to the technology centre.
LED lighting is fully integrated into the handrails. In the evening and night hours, it illuminates the entire course of the bridge and the red interior colour begins to glow softly.
The new bridge crosses the main road into the city of Darmstadt providing for pedestrians and bicycles a connection between the main railway station and the new business district in the south.
The aim was to preserve as many trees as possible. For this reason, the bridge curves elegantly over the Rheinstrasse meandering as a continouos ramp between the trees. To shortcuts are offered for pedestrians on both sides of the main road whilst people with reduced mobility and cyclists comfortably are crossing the Rheinstrasse on the long spiral ramps.
The shape of the bridge also develops from a trough construction that rests on V-shaped double supports. The outside of the trough is rhythmised by the encircling u-shaped ribs and is uniformly kept in a discreet grey. The different light and shadow effects of the exterior structural metal sheets change the view in the course of the day and clarify the dynamic guidance of the bridge curves.
From every perspective, the geometric course of the winding structure also reveals glimpses of the bright red interior of the trough. This red accompanies the user on his way from the main station to the technology centre.
LED lighting is fully integrated into the handrails. In the evening and night hours, it illuminates the entire course of the bridge and the red interior colour begins to glow softly.
