Floating Bridge

A pedestrian bridge that appears to hover above the river, supported by thin cable stays anchored to submerged foundations. The deck undulates gently, creating sheltered seating areas along its 200-metre span. From a distance, it reads as a single continuous ribbon of white concrete.

The deck is a post-tensioned concrete slab just 180 millimetres thick at its edges, thickening to 600 millimetres along the spine. This variable section gives the bridge its distinctive thinness while carrying the loads. The cable stays are stainless steel rods, each only 36 millimetres in diameter, tuned to precise tension values calculated through iterative form-finding software.

The undulations in the deck are not ornamental. Each dip creates a wind-sheltered zone with integrated bench seating cast directly into the concrete. Drainage slots in the low points channel rainwater to the underside, where it falls as a curtain into the river below — a detail that turns a maintenance requirement into a visual effect.

LED strips embedded in the handrail illuminate the bridge at night with a warm amber glow that does not spill onto the water surface — a deliberate choice to protect nocturnal fish migration. The bridge connects a residential neighbourhood to a riverside park that was previously accessible only by a 1.4-kilometre detour. Daily crossings now average 6,200.