Frame and Form

Building the world longest footbridge, letting a bridge be a dragon, understanding bridge collapses, designing signature bridges in Spain and taking the cultural responsibility of bridge design were some of the focus at the 5th New York City Bridge Conference. With three-rooms simultaneous sessions, awards ceremony and table top displays the two-days conference was held at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park Hotel last week. With so many enticing speakers, I tried to be in a few places at once, and managed to catch a batch of illustrious engineers and forward thinkers. Here’s some highlights:

Dr. Theodore Galambos, Emeritus Professor at University of Minnesota, expressed his point of view about ‘the safety of bridges’. Based in the collapse of the I35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, he went through an interesting historical perspective and pointed out the main causes of bridge failure, such as previous unimagined effects of natural forces, careless/accidental human acts or unfamiliarity with new materials and structural systems. Some interesting quotations:

‘we make mistakes and we miss things, but, we also have the resolve to learn, think and act’

‘you shouldn’t have a structure design that can fail in one single joint’

‘gravity is unforgettable!’

Dr. Jörg Schlaich, Senior Partner at Schlaich Bergermann und Partners and Emeritus Professor at University of Stuttgart, gave an amazing lecture on Bridge Design. It was great to have the opportunity to listen to an engineer whose work is all about ‘connecting knowledge and creativity’. He refreshed the conference by inspiring the audience to take ‘cultural responsibility’ while designing bridges.

As guidance through his speech, Dr. Schlaich showed some of his work focusing on pedestrian bridges and the use of monolithic structural systems. Avoiding the use of bearings, the monolithic bridges reduce mantainency and achieve ‘natural beauty’. He also expressed his preference for short span suspended footbridges and explained how you can use a curve itinerary to stiffen the structure at the same time that you create an elegant and enjoyable piece of work. Here some interesting quotations:

‘If you find an architect that uses you as a calculating machine then forget it. If you find an architect that is interested in structures then talk, establish a dialogue and enjoy the results!’

‘I follow the codes if they are reasonable, people accept vibrations in light structures but not in heavy bridges’

‘enjoy your bridge design!’

Arenas & Associates, a Spanish firm dedicated to bridge and signature structural design, led by Dr. J.J. Arenas, was represented by Guillermo Capellán Miguel & Héctor Beade Pereda who showed us the most recent and astonishing work form their team. This office manufactures ‘Structural Architecture’ which they define as the art of conceiving and engineering works in order to achieve maximum level of structural functionality as well as formal expressibility. We could admire the design and construction details of the Third Millennium Bridge over the Ebro River, and a brief round up of the late signature bridges built in Spain by the firm.

Meta Information:

- For more information about the 5th New York City Bridge Conference you can check the program here.

- Official web about the Third Millennium Bridge over the Ebro River. Technical data, draws…  www.puentetercermilenio.com [ES]

Foto credit (from top to bottom):

- Conference Flyer. Bridge Engineering Association

- I35W Collapse. Wikipedia

- Schlaich footbridge. Schlaich Bergermann und Partner

- Third Millennium Bridge. Alberto Gabandé

- Delicias Footbridge. Arenas & Associates