Mit kühnem Schwung

With a bold sweep - A one-side suspended pedestrian bridge in Gelsenkirchen, Germany

North of Gelsenkirchen, right behind ZOOM-Erlebniswelt, a delicate, horizontally curved suspension bridge crosses the Rhine Herne Canal since June 2009. With a bold sweep and a span of 141 m it connects the bike and walking trails of the southern Erzbahntrasse with the northern Emscher Park bike trail. The bridge combines architectural aesthetic and discerning engineering attributes through its lightness and its minimal, integral construction. Using unsupported main cable anchorages and a complex, three-dimensional workshop geometry, innovative accents were created. The following report illustrates the design, planning and construction as well as the complex erection sequence of this elegant, seemingly floating structure.