New landmark bridge for tomorrows neighborhood
- Date published
- June 1, 2020
Denmark’s new cable-stayed bridge is the result of strong collaboration between architects and engineers and connects the upcoming district Nærheden with the neighboring town for the joy of pedestrians, cyclist and drivers.
Article by COWI and Dissing+Weitling
One September night in 2019, a steel structure weighing almost 300 tonnes was carefully lifted across one of Denmark’s most busy railway sections some 30 km outside Copenhagen.
That feat was preceded by months of engineering and architectural work, including the preparation of a highly accurate parametric 3D model, which allowed for design adjustments during the design phase.
On 27 March 2020, the cable-stayed bridge was opened to local road users and it now links a new and an old district at Hedehusene in Høje-Taastrup Municipality.
The wish for a landmark
Boasting a 28-metre high pylon and a 42-metre span, the cable-stayed bridge is meant to be an architectural landmark for the new Nærheden district, which is being developed as an example of tomorrow’s sustainable suburb, featuring high-quality infrastructure and urban spaces. Community was a top priority for the suburb, which incorporates common areas and shared facilities.
The local authority, Høje-Taastrup Kommune, knew from the start that a bridge would be essential to meet the demands of the new suburb, and the new vehicle and pedestrian bridge now allows for optimal traffic connections between the new suburb and the already existing municipality, Hedehusene.
The wish to secure a striking landmark for Nærheden also led to the decision to build a cable-stayed bridge, rather than a more traditional, flat and less costly concrete bridge.
Dissing+Weitling developed the bridge geometry and were involved in both the idea phase, the detail design and execution phases in order to ensure that the desired architecture was prioritized. COWI did detail design in 3D to handle the complex geometry and to specify and support the creative ideas with statics calculations.
The main contractor Jorton A/S teamed up with a number of sub-contractors and foreign suppliers since not all design solutions were available in the Danish market. For instance, cable stays and lighting were manufactured by Italian specialists and crash barrier mesh frames from Taiwan.