Though the nature of the challenge resonates between issues of urbanism and the landscape, the potential of the West End Pedestrian Bridge lies primarily in its ability to change the tide of public life on the riverfront. As one of the most characteristic bridges in the “City of Bridges”, the arch of the West End Bridge undoubtedly impacts the city’s skyline; the sum total effect of all the city’s bridges alters the horizon of the region’s landscape, blurring the line between the built and the natural. Drawing on this observation, the strategy for the West End Pedestrian Bridge is derived: to work with a bow-string truss typology, alternating the orientation of the bow, above and below the proposed circulation deck, to amplify the figure of the existing bridge.

The existing bridge structure is a tied arch utilizing pre-stressed cables for support of a thin deck – a logical and efficient solution for loading in a single plane The cables which support the light bridge-deck are tension-only structural elements which, in parallel configuration, have a limited ability to resist non-axial loads.  The existing roadway and pedestrian walkways provide, in general, a balanced load.  The open truss/cable structure and the thin deck reduce the effects of wind perpendicular to the bridge.  

Project Design: Monica Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani

Project Coordinator: Richard Lee

Project Team: Jeffrey Butcher