Knokke Footbridge / Ney & Partners
Architects: Ney & Partners
Location: Knokke, Flanders, Belgium
Client: Flemish Community
Project length: 110 m
Budget: $1,700,000 euro
Construction year: 2004–2007
Photographer: Daylight
Situated on the Queen Elisabeth Avenue, connecting Knokke with Ostende, this pedestrian bridge full fills two functions. On the one hand, the bridge connects the sea dike with a green zone in the “Polders”, creating tourism possibilities for cyclists and pedestrians. On the other hand the bridge symbolizes the entrance into the marine city of Knokke Heist. The static model is a continuous beam with 102m length that rests on 4 supports. This creates an ideal span division of 28m/46m/28m.
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The structural form was first hand sketched, then digitally processed: a software program computed the minimum amount of material required and thus the shapes of the openings. The result is an optimized shape. From a conceptual point of view, the bridge consists of welded bent steel plates of 12mm thickness, forming a structural steel “hammock” to which a concrete deck is tied. To resist shear forces, caused by the bent shape in plan, the sides of the plates are inclined at 45°, with respect to the central axis.
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17 comments »
sweet shape
I think that saying that this shape is optimized is really not the right thing to do.. an optimized shape for a bridge of this sort is a line with pillars coming into it from time to time in order to support it..
It’s a nice shape,but it’s really not the most efficient one – it doesn’t have to be the most efficient one..
Agree the beauty of this bridge is in its sculptural load structure.
Agreed again, though saying it’s optimized for this type of shape and structure is probably very true.
I think it’s a pretty sweet structure and it seems to really fit the situation. Great work!
I don’t agree.
It’s juste a curved cable-stayed bridge. except that there’s only four thick cables per pillar wich support a rigid deck. the rest is a question of design. A specially clear design.
clear and readable concept, and in addition to many projects featured on archdaily (look at the work of “Aedes”: wow… it is more than a rendering!!! Congratulations to anyone who worked on this to become reality.
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