AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands (Bentley Be Inspired Conference), Oct 26, 2010 - It's a wonder bridges get built at all. Public outcry seems to increase in proportion to size, and therefore big bridges suffer the most. San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate bridge took 50 years of convincing. Forces amassed against it included not only ferry operators (of course) but many of the public who considered the bridge would mar the view. Ironically, now the most expensive city residences advertise their "bridge to bridge view" (Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge). And then there is the money. Lots of it. If you think signing for a mortgage makes renting an apartment seem not so bad after all, you can understand how a community may balk at a billion dollar bridge. Hmm, the ferry rides are scenic. The drive around the bay is a great way to get to know the area. Anyone up for a swim -- it's such good exercise.
The Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge may have suffered its own gauntlet of detractors (a pedestrian anything in Southern California is weird, people here look at walkers with suspicion -- unless they are on a treadmill in a health club). But it will soon arch over San Diego's Harbor Freeway as what may very well be known as one of the most graceful and unusual pedestrian bridges in the US (yes, there are a few).
Built by T.Y. Lin International of San Diego, California, the project was among the finalists for the 2010 Be Inspired awards being held last week in Amsterdam.
In typical civic brochure-speak, the bridge "realizes a 100 year old dream to connect the historic Balboa Park with the scenic San Diego Bay." Oh yeah, it will also connect the multi million dollar new high rise Hilton to San Diego's new multi million dollar baseball park. I imagine the $24 million pedestrian bridge to be a minor line item in this context.
Unlike almost every bridge you can think of, the Harbor Drive bridge is supported by cables only one side. Doing this to a straight bridge would have warped the deck. Picture pedestrians falling onto a busy highway. So the bridge ended up being curved in the plan view. Somehow, the curvature acts to keep the bridge deck flat. It's complicated. Luckily, the bridge engineer chose not to refresh our 3D statics class and remind us of what dopes we had become.
I'm in San Diego several times a year and I'll make it a point to walk this bridge, but I'll be careful not to complement any natives on what a nice bridge they have. I made that mistake with Redding's now famous and flaunted Sundial Pedestrian Bridge (http://www.turtlebay.org/sundialbridge) not too long after it was built. My friend, a minister who tends to Redding's many less fortunate, told me quite nicely, "You know, a lot of people questioned the necessity of that bridge."
There has been a need for crossing Harbor Drive between Petco Park and the Convention Center for some time now. I was happy that a bridge had been planned, but was surprised that such an ambitious design had been proposed. The project was delayed due to rising costs and a redesign. Then it was absolutely to be done by the end of January 2011. I just visited the site on Feb. 12, and.....it's not open for use yet. It's quite a beautiful shape, but unlike motor vehicle bridges, there's no toll to help pay it off. At any rate, it's just about done and will be quite useful.
Posted by: Marc | February 14, 2011 at 07:11 AM
I love this opst! You have a greatblog her!
Posted by: Maisa | December 25, 2010 at 12:30 AM
Interesting. I love 30 miles north of the San Diego,CA harbor and I've never heard of this project.
The City & County of San Diego is flat broke, like most cities in California. Where will the money come from?
Devon Sowell
Posted by: Devon T. Sowell | October 31, 2010 at 05:11 AM