Baakenhafen Bridge | WilkinsonEyre

The 165m long bridge has been completed early to enable construction work in the area. It provides vehicular, cycle and pedestrian routes and is a component of the Lohsepark landscape corridor. Brought to site by water and craned into place in three sections, its construction is highly sustainable. The bridge has been designed to enable a 30m section in the centre to lift out to allow tall ships to pass. This is done by the of mooring a barge under the middle section which then allows the tide to lift the ships and carry them clear. The structure is a balanced cantilever at either end supporting the removable section. The road is cleverly separated from pedestrian routes on either side. These are cantilevered and their structure conceals the elevation of the spanning beams behind, giving a slim profile to the edge of the bridge. The walkways widen at the southeast and northwest ends and undulate to become lower and closer to the water and the shore at their widest point. Here the solid sections of the guarding are also set down to emphasise the curving line of the structure and a long wooden bench provides a welcome resting place. The stainless steel guarding glistens and adds a softer and more delicate touch to the otherwise industrial look of the grey painted steelwork. Reference to the mechanised dockland landscape is made by crane-like lamp posts which march across. From the shore the form is fluid and elegant. The bridge appears to flow over the water as the traffic flows across the bridge. The brief also asked for the bridge to be enjoyed from below where pedestrian routes follow the water's edge. In fact from the underside the bridge is perhaps at its most intriguing and engaging. The central section and cantilevered pedestrian zones are supported on steel beams with V shaped flanges designed to prevent pigeons inhabiting the undercroft. The clearly expressed structural diagram is highly sculptural and the repetitious beams appear to ripple over the water.