New Opening Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridge COPENHAGEN INNER HARBOUR ( Project information below )

New Opening Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridge over COPENHAGEN INNER HARBOUR ( completed in August 2016 )

In January 2009 Københavns Kommune announced a limited competition involving three openable pedestrian/cyclist bridges, the main one crossing the Copenhagen Inner Harbour ( Inderhavnen ). The bridges were to link the new Opera House and the east side of the port to Nyhavn and the main part of the city on the west side. At that stage the only link was provided by water taxis or via a rather convoluted and long route over existing bridges. The new pedestrian bridges were funded by the AP Møller and Chastine McKinney Møller Foundation, which also funded the new Copenhagen Opera House. Based on their bridge design track record ten teams were invited from a pool of world-wide expressions of interest. Studio Bednarski/Flint & Neill/Hardesty Hanover/Speirs and Major team won the main bridge project and completed it in August 2016.

There is no other bridge quite like the Inner Harbour Bridge anywhere else in the world. The use of innovative sliding mechanism allows pedestrians to stand on viewing platforms at the edges of the navigation channel during the opening and closing operation. The gently and silently sliding sections of the elegant subtly understated sliding bridge appear as if floating in the air, as they move in and out of spaces between concrete decks. This new structure has become both a meeting place and vital traffic route, reducing commuting time for thousands of pedestrians and cyclists in the Danish capital. It constitutes a very effective tool of urban acupuncture unblocking the flows of urban energy on a route where it always wanted to flow. The bridge creates new public urban spaces.

The bridge is 250m long in total, spanning the 185m distance between the two quays and has maximum width of 18m. The navigation channel is 45m wide and the main span of the structure, that it's two cantilevers span, is 70m long. The width of the harbour was much greater than the width of the navigation channel and this provided just enough room for the steel spans to pull back out of the way when ships pass by. The steel spans, weighing, were made by Vistal in Poland, delivered to Copenhagen by sea in August 2015 and installed by floating crane in just one night.

Selection of Competition Jury comments :

“In this entry, urban architecture aspects are rooted in the historical qualities of Copenhagen (…) Taking its starting point from the Nordic traditions, the entrant sought inspiration in the opportunity to optimise functionality and create a new public space rather than letting the bridge be an exponent of an extravagant staged structural form”

“The suggested incorporation of the bridges in the urban architecture is of very high quality.(…) The chain motive used in the overall plan keeps the movement together and creates attractive relationships between the bridges”

“In an exemplary manner, the entry takes its inspiration from the desire to subjugate the bridges to the movements of the city and the urban landscape and then giving the bridge over Inderhavnen a clear identity generated by its functionality”

“The bridge features a compelling overall concept and an attractive design that will help to form the identity of the site in the future”

“The telescopic design is extremely well thought out and a surprising proposal for a new bridge that will be a constant feature of the harbour space"

Видео New Opening Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridge COPENHAGEN INNER HARBOUR ( Project information below ) канала Cezary Marek