Add To Collection
Add to Collection
Footbridge across the Renner Brook
Footbridge across the Renner Brook
Czechia
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
Footbridge across the Renner Brook
Czechia
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2019
SIZE
0 sqft - 1000 sqft
BUDGET
$0 - 10K
In ‘Eliška’s Valley’ in the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše), not far from the Renner Chalets, there is peace and quiet, and it is precisely this atmosphere that the footbridge across the Renner Brook reflects. Yet its final appearance brings into play several additional factors. First, the bridge had to be designed so that motor vehicles could cross it. This requirement would usually demand robust and heavy construction elements, yet the design cleverly avoids it by composing the load-bearing structure of several shorter wooden beams. With these dimensions, they can be more easily handled, as well as more conveniently transported to the site.
No less important is the placement of the bridge into the natural mountain setting and its challenging climate conditions, where for several months out of the year the bridge would bear a layer of snow or have to deal structurally with damp. Hence the design limits large surface areas that could retain water. The authors chose the traditional local material of wood; only the joining elements are, for strength, of steel. Likewise, the walking surface of the bridge is made of steel grids, which do not retain water or snow while additionally providing the visitors an interesting view down to the stream and the bridge-structure below.
The actual structure emerged out of the idea of shortening the span to allow for the use of shorter, lighter components easily transported to the location. This shortening of the span was achieved through the use of a pointed arch, a kind of vaulting-horse, ensuring that the span length is shortened by one-third. A rising outline of the bridge was another condition of the design, to preserve the flow-through profile of the stream.
The ‘vaulting horse’ is composed of three girders, stretched together by a wedge. The entire construction rests upon dressed-stone foundations, which needed to be well reinforced on either side of the brook. The load-bearing section of the bridgeway can thus span the distance of the bank and the ‘horse’, functioning as a simple girder between the foundation and the central part.
Access to the footbridge is routed along a wide trail, descending from the hilltop into the open valley so that the bridge can be seen even from a distance. On the bank is a bench, which along with the bridge offers a place to stop and have a look at the landscape.
The bridge was planned and hand-built by students of the studio Zavřel – Jelínek at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague, as part of a design-build project in collaboration with the Administration of the Krkonoše National Park.
Photo: Martin Čeněk.
No less important is the placement of the bridge into the natural mountain setting and its challenging climate conditions, where for several months out of the year the bridge would bear a layer of snow or have to deal structurally with damp. Hence the design limits large surface areas that could retain water. The authors chose the traditional local material of wood; only the joining elements are, for strength, of steel. Likewise, the walking surface of the bridge is made of steel grids, which do not retain water or snow while additionally providing the visitors an interesting view down to the stream and the bridge-structure below.
The actual structure emerged out of the idea of shortening the span to allow for the use of shorter, lighter components easily transported to the location. This shortening of the span was achieved through the use of a pointed arch, a kind of vaulting-horse, ensuring that the span length is shortened by one-third. A rising outline of the bridge was another condition of the design, to preserve the flow-through profile of the stream.
The ‘vaulting horse’ is composed of three girders, stretched together by a wedge. The entire construction rests upon dressed-stone foundations, which needed to be well reinforced on either side of the brook. The load-bearing section of the bridgeway can thus span the distance of the bank and the ‘horse’, functioning as a simple girder between the foundation and the central part.
Access to the footbridge is routed along a wide trail, descending from the hilltop into the open valley so that the bridge can be seen even from a distance. On the bank is a bench, which along with the bridge offers a place to stop and have a look at the landscape.
The bridge was planned and hand-built by students of the studio Zavřel – Jelínek at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague, as part of a design-build project in collaboration with the Administration of the Krkonoše National Park.
Photo: Martin Čeněk.
Product Spec Sheet
Were your products used?
Join as a manufacturer to add your products.