Boulevard Bridge - 03.026
Program
Architectural study for a design competition
Concept
The canal that joins the river Schelde to the Brussels harbour runs through a highly industrialised zone. In order to ensure continued development of this area, it has been decided to increase the channel's navigation width to 57m and its air draft to 9.5m. The proposed bridge is a lifting bridge of 60m span with a deck width of 20m.
Specific features
The shape of the upper chord is optimised to take the applied loads in both open and closed position. The resulting structure is a bowstring connected to a counter weight at one end. In this way there is an obvious distinction between compression and tension elements, resulting in a transparent reading of the force path.
