Pedestrian bridges (Detail)

Pedestrian bridges need to be above all functional, but beyond this they should also relate to that which makes a location special, to its pathways, topography and context. Through their presence in the public realm, they offer the opportunity of not only connecting areas separated from each other, but also of giving a place its own identity. To draft a good pedestrian bridge, a great deal of design sensitivity is required, particularly when the bridge is being built in an inner-city area or in a sensitive landscape.§But since less restrictive functional and structural requirements apply to pedestrian bridges than to road or rail bridges, pedestrian bridges offer the required design latitude for reacting to the place and use with individual solutions. §The book at hand provides an overview of current tendencies in pedestrian bridge construction, of fundamental structural and functional requirements, of the various load-bearing systems, of application areas of the various materials and of important economic aspects. Successful real-life examples round out the volume and are meant to provide motivation to make fascinating designs a reality in interdisciplinary collaboration.