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Are footbridges easy to build in Europe? I've done some preliminary research into how a rural town in the USA would install similar small pedestrian bridges. Th

by pkamb 3y ago

Are footbridges easy to build in Europe? I've done some preliminary research into how a rural town in the USA would install similar small pedestrian bridges. The costs are astronomical and the environmental review seems nigh impossible to satisfy. (The only alternative, of course, is to drive a car as the existing roads/bridges are too unsafe for pedestrians + bikes.)

malermeister 3y ago
I would assume the Netherlands have a very streamlined process, being a country littered with canals and all.
- lucumo 3y ago
  This looks like a pretty new neighborhood. Those get build as mass projects. The entire neighborhood is tendered to a single contractor (usually a consortium of multiple companies). It gets a common design, with everything made to fit together. They can look pretty monotonous. Some people call them living-factories ("woonfabrieken"). The advantage is that they are high-quality homes and all kinds of services are designed in: there's a space for super markets and a few other shops, a handful of restaurants, doctors and dentists, primary schools and daycares. Everything you need for living with a young family. Infrastructure, like bridges, are also designed in. The overall plan has had an environmental review. Probably multiple, and also other kinds of reviews. It can take years before such a plan gets approval, but in the end the municipal council usually agrees. There were probably already some basic bridges designed at those spots. If the municipal council liked the idea, it wouldn't have taken much to get the design changed to this.
mike_hock 3y ago
He just built props around existing bridges.
- inhumantsar 3y ago
  You might want to actually read the article... His city council was working on approving a new housing development that required bridges so they incorporated the designs into their plans prior to construction. They were built to match the banknote designs.
  - mike_hock 3y ago
    Where does it say that? It sounds like the article carefully avoids making any definitive claim to that effect. A completely redundant facade around a fully functional bridge isn't "incorporated into the bridge." He and his "whole team" (of other artists, probably) were allowed to decorate the bridges that were going to be built anyway.
Ekaros 3y ago
Depends.... My home town had bridge failing(no full collapse) and replacement was delivered fast(~1.5 years to remove old one and install new one). A real bridge with 4 lanes(one way) over a river. And then pedestrian bridge over some railway tracks cost like four times and was designed badly from I heard and ended up costing more...
wjnc 3y ago
Footbridges like these, only for cycling and pedestrians, over several meters of non-moving water: Yes. Think less than a week of installation (mainly concrete for the foundation) often the rest is wood, some screws and € 100k max all-in. Replacement is a two day activity for two. Cost can go up quickly though with requirements. Moving bridges are way more expensive, bridges across active waterways obviously so, cars are another dimension. There is a scandal in my town where a nice retro artsy car-bridge is closed more often than openend and the steel is breaking after 5-10 years. Think millions per year. I fear that pedestrian bridges are pretty far out of the normal where your from? In my (small) Dutch city I think there are about 500? So they’ll replace at least a few per week (going from 20 year lifespan and the age of most of the bridges). They look like exactly those in the pictures (except the ornaments of course ;).

by pkamb 3y ago

malermeister 3y ago

I would assume the Netherlands have a very streamlined process, being a country littered with canals and all.

lucumo 3y ago
This looks like a pretty new neighborhood. Those get build as mass projects. The entire neighborhood is tendered to a single contractor (usually a consortium of multiple companies). It gets a common design, with everything made to fit together. They can look pretty monotonous. Some people call them living-factories ("woonfabrieken"). The advantage is that they are high-quality homes and all kinds of services are designed in: there's a space for super markets and a few other shops, a handful of restaurants, doctors and dentists, primary schools and daycares. Everything you need for living with a young family. Infrastructure, like bridges, are also designed in. The overall plan has had an environmental review. Probably multiple, and also other kinds of reviews. It can take years before such a plan gets approval, but in the end the municipal council usually agrees. There were probably already some basic bridges designed at those spots. If the municipal council liked the idea, it wouldn't have taken much to get the design changed to this.

mike_hock 3y ago

He just built props around existing bridges.

inhumantsar 3y ago
You might want to actually read the article... His city council was working on approving a new housing development that required bridges so they incorporated the designs into their plans prior to construction. They were built to match the banknote designs.
- mike_hock 3y ago
  Where does it say that? It sounds like the article carefully avoids making any definitive claim to that effect. A completely redundant facade around a fully functional bridge isn't "incorporated into the bridge." He and his "whole team" (of other artists, probably) were allowed to decorate the bridges that were going to be built anyway.

Ekaros 3y ago

Depends.... My home town had bridge failing(no full collapse) and replacement was delivered fast(~1.5 years to remove old one and install new one). A real bridge with 4 lanes(one way) over a river. And then pedestrian bridge over some railway tracks cost like four times and was designed badly from I heard and ended up costing more...

wjnc 3y ago

Footbridges like these, only for cycling and pedestrians, over several meters of non-moving water: Yes. Think less than a week of installation (mainly concrete for the foundation) often the rest is wood, some screws and € 100k max all-in. Replacement is a two day activity for two. Cost can go up quickly though with requirements. Moving bridges are way more expensive, bridges across active waterways obviously so, cars are another dimension. There is a scandal in my town where a nice retro artsy car-bridge is closed more often than openend and the steel is breaking after 5-10 years. Think millions per year. I fear that pedestrian bridges are pretty far out of the normal where your from? In my (small) Dutch city I think there are about 500? So they’ll replace at least a few per week (going from 20 year lifespan and the age of most of the bridges). They look like exactly those in the pictures (except the ornaments of course ;).