tallbridgeguy

What I like most about this bridge is that a) it was designed by a dane, Tim Norlund, (I’m also Danish) and b) it shows that competitions work and allow newcomers the opportunity to develop as designers. (Did it have to be an architectural student and not an engineering student…sigh)

Too often only the big players have the pull, time and money to develop concepts for a bridge competition. I wish we had more competitions here in the States. I would love to try and enter one. (So if you know of any, like me know!)

Sheffield Bridge - Tim Norland

WSDOT has put together a paper outlining the steps required to implement ABC design. The paper is a first draft but I think it is significant that a DOT is starting to put the policy of ABC in writing.

Unrelated bridge photo!

toronto-centre-island-by-bensonkua

Pictures of the proposed world’s tallest and longest arch bridge. It is a concept by FXFowle Architects and it is pretty amazing. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to design.

The website World Architecture news is interesting as well.

Check out the bridge shown below, Steven Holl Architects.

steven-holl-architects

Interesting thread, in wwww.skyscrapercity.com, about the Calatrava bridge in Venice.  The thread has a good number of photos of the bridge and it looks like it could fit in the accelerated bridge construction column.

One of the questions about the bridge is the possible lack of wheelchair access across the bridge.

Constitution Bridge. Photograph: Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

Gateway Bridge, Nashville. Essentially the new bridge I talked about..

Brent and Marilynn - Flickr CC

Here is a quick view of the arch bridge I was going on about. Since the arches are so far outside the existing bridge, (The one with the ribs showing and no deck.) I would build the arch supports first, while allowing traffic to continue flowing.

This way you would minimize the closure time of the bridge replacement and take as much time as needed to finish the supports. (When working with limestone, delays are always part of the equation.)

Nielsen Computer model

Sooo, how should I feel. I designed two bridges in the article, won two awards, and provided information and a computer rendering for the article. I even sat for a new headshot and gave them my bio information.

Then my name is taken off the final paper, concerning bridges I designed. Gotta give them credit, literally…

It just isn’t my day.   ABC Research News

Wish we celebrated bridges like this!

Well I have been putting a lot of filler on this site because I have been busy with a number of projects. The county bridge (see pic) I designed has been handed into contracts and will be let in April. It is an all precast bridge 50′ center to center of abutment and has a thrie beam guardrail system. I am hoping it can be built in 3 days.

I have also been trying to change the direction of an arch bridge design. It is not my design but I worked on the initial planning and I think the new design has gone off course. (see previous posts)

One of the things I have noticed with bridge engineers, is the lack of flexibility. What happens, typically, is that when a design type is chosen, we will do everything necessary to make that initial design work. (Because it is so difficult to go back and redo all your calculations.) But what could happen, is you are stuck designing a lemon because it is too hard to go back and change the concept. That’s why I’m a huge believer in getting the initial design correct.

One of the ways to do this, is to have a 3D drawing of the proposed design (after making sure the member sizes shown will work) so that everyone knows how the bridge will look. That way, comments and corrections can be made before it is too late. This is why I started my www.3dbridgedesign.com company because the concept is really the key to success.

When I was working on the design of a local arch bridge, I wanted the sidewalks to be on the inside of the arches. The firm who has the job now is going with arches on the outside of the bridge. I think this is a mistake.

The best thing about canitlevered sidewalks are the unobstructed views (of the river in this case) by pedestrians. Having the arches on the inside also help with load distribution.

Anyway, I know enough sour grapes. Here is a link to a similar length arch bridge as the one I am talking about – the Damen Avenue Arch Bridge