Haslisteg
The long history of the Aare crossing in the Sand district between the villages of Meiringen and Willigen continues. The Sandstäg (also known as the «Pontlibrücke» or «Pontlisteg») replaced the previous covered wooden bridge in 1890 as a pedestrian bridge in riveted iron construction. In 2023, the truss bridge had to be replaced by a temporary structure due to its poor condition. The design of the future bridge structure has now been determined in a competition.
LÜCHINGER MEYER PARTNER and explorations architecture are delighted with the 3rd place achieved and the jury’s appreciative conclusion on the HASLISTEG design: «With the slightly curved, filigree steel box girder, the authors propose a harmonious bridge shape that also blends convincingly into the landscape context in terms of materialisation in Corten steel as an element. The permeable, homogeneous course of the picket railing emphasises the visual lightness and ‘dissolution’. The authors formulate a coherent response to the location and task for the footbridge.»
The pedestrian bridge with a carriageway width of 3 m is designed as an integral bridge without dilatation joints. The span between the two concrete abutments is 39 metres, the length of the bridge 45 metres. The massive, mineral abutments resemble the embankment walls of the river. Their solidity is a ‘bulwark’ against the vagaries of the river and the impacts of tree trunks.
The bridge girder consists of a welded steel box with a variable static height of 40 cm in the centre of the span to 60 cm at the abutments. The bridge girder acts as a beam clamped on both sides. The steel box is welded airtight and braced with a total of 6 transverse bulkheads and four vertical webs or two inclined cover plates on the outer sides of the box. In order to withstand the wheel loads of maintenance vehicles, the carriageway slab is reinforced with longitudinal ribs and thus acts as an orthotropic slab. To ensure the clamping of the bridge girder and to transfer the negative moment into the concrete base of the abutments, the steel box is connected to the abutment by 14 Swiss-Gewi bars with a diameter of 50 mm, which transfer the tensile forces from the upper flange of the steel box into the concrete.
Visualisations: explorations architecture
