Moxon Architects has completed an innovative, low-maintenance timber bridge in Balingen, southern Germany.
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Simon Kennedy
Moxon Architects, in collaboration with timber bridge engineering specialist IB-Miebach, has completed a pedestrian and cycle bridge in the Balingen, southern Germany. Won in competition and unveiled ahead of the 2023 Baden-Würtemberg Garden Show, the bridge links event venues and strengthens the town’s network of foot and cycle paths. It is also intended to be a catalyst for the ongoing regeneration of the River Eyach, over which it spans.
“Balingen Footbridge demonstrates not just the aesthetic and structural potential of timber in place of steel in bridge building, but the carbon that can be sequestered,” said Ezra Groskin, director at Moxon Architects. “Through offsetting the concrete going into the abutments, timber allows you to create a more sustainable piece of infrastructure, that, with the correct maintenance, can last as long as any steel structure.”
The innovative low-maintenance bridge is designed around a pair of glulam beams that span 40 metres over the river at an oblique angle and cradle pedestrians and cyclists on a three-metre-wide fibre-reinforced plastic deck. At either end of the bridge, the structure widens to five metres, facilitating easy access. The two angled and tapered beams are designed to flare outwards in plan as they approach the riverbanks, embracing the footpath and cycle track. They also extend above the deck to form parapets – a necessity enabling the bridge to clear future predicted flood levels. The visible outer faces of the shaped glulam beams are intended to weather naturally over time. The inner pedestrian-facing surfaces incorporate timber slat cladding with integrated lighting and handrails.
“The big challenge on this project was working within the structural limitations that a pared-back, elegant aesthetic can impose,” explained Frank Miebach, director at Ingenieurbüro Miebach. “Thanks to the excellent exchanges with the architects, we were able to give the simple structural form of a trough bridge a unique typology. We were also able to implement our premise for good structural wood protection in an appealing way through the inclined girders. This shows that together we can interpret wood in a contemporary way for bridges, and hope to herald a paradigm shift.”
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Source: Architecture Today