Bridge of the Red Tower - 10.052
Program
The entire architectural and engineering mission.
Concept
Zwolle is a medieval city located in the north of the Netherlands. The city is surrounded with water and divided by watercourses. A new urban extension towards the south-east demands a connection with the old city centre in order to become one with the rest of the city. Therefore the construction of a new footbridge was necessary. The bridge will be also integrated in the mobility plan of the city.
Three different elements define this location: nature, water and historical construction elements. The new bridge lays in-between, crosses them, connects them and integrates into the different characteristics of its environment. A natural finishing of the slope and the abutment on the side where the construction connects with the park and a brickwork finishing on the side where it connects with the historical city centre results in a bridge which blends into its surroundings. The middle part of the bridge is designed as an extreme light steel structure to make a link with the water that is underneath.
The structure has a steel deck of 2cm supported by a central arch and two ribbons with a thickness of 6cm. The dissociation of the arch gives the possibility to equilibrate the asymmetrical charges by transforming the twisting moment into vertical charges on the arches.
By studying and using different typologies (steel beam bridge, arched bridge, truss beam bridge) we result in a bridge with a strong identity. The arch form of the understructure is the consequence of a form-finding process. The geometry has for that reason an optimal behavior relating to strain and traction.
The structural choices gave us the opportunity to design The Red Tower Bridge (Rodetorenbrug) as an extreme minimalist element, which depending on the angle you look at it, will be visible or not. The bridge is linked to the water, the nature and the city history through an elegant and fluid gesture.
