Footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.[1] While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a height above the ground", a footbridge can also be a lower structure, such as a boardwalk, that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land.[1] Bridges range from stepping stones–possibly the earliest man-made structure to "bridge" water–to elaborate steel structures. Another early bridge would have been simply a fallen tree. In some cases a footbridge can be both functional and artistic.
For rural communities in the developing world, a footbridge may be a community's only access to medical clinics, schools, businesses and markets. Simple suspension bridge designs have been developed to be sustainable and easily constructed in such areas using only local materials and labor.
An enclosed footbridge between two buildings is sometimes known as a skyway. Bridges providing for both pedestrians and cyclists are often referred to as greenbridges and form an important part of a sustainable transport system.
Footbridges are often situated to allow pedestrians to cross water or railways in areas where there are no nearby roads. They are also located across roads to let pedestrians cross safely without slowing traffic. The latter is a type of pedestrian separation structure, examples of which are particularly found near schools.
Early history
The simplest type of a bridge is stepping stones, so this may have been one of the earliest types of footbridge. Neolithic people also built a form of a boardwalk across marshes, of which the Sweet Track, and the Post Track are examples from England, that are around 6000 years old.[2] Undoubtedly ancient peoples would also have used log bridges; that is a timber bridge[3] that fall naturally or are intentionally felled or placed across streams. Some of the first man-made bridges with significant span were probably intentionally felled trees.[4]
Among the oldest
A
The Kapellbrücke is a 204-metre-long (669 ft) footbridge crossing the River Reuss in the city of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, and one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions. The bridge was originally built c. 1365[6] as part of Lucerne's fortifications.
An early example of a
Design
Design of footbridges normally follows the same principles as for other bridges. However, because they are normally significantly lighter than vehicular bridges, they are more vulnerable to
To ensure footbridges are accessible to
Types
Types of footbridges include:
- Beam Bridge
- Boardwalk
- Clapper bridge
- Timber trackway, Plank road, and Corduroy road
- Moon bridge
- Simple suspension bridge
- Simple truss
- Stepping stones
- Zig-zag bridge
The residential-scale footbridges all
Different types of design footbridges include:
Footbridges can also be built in the same ways as road or rail bridges; particularly suspension bridges and beam bridges. Some former road bridges have had their traffic diverted to alternative crossings and have become pedestrian bridges; examples in the UK include The Iron Bridge at Ironbridge, Shropshire, the Old Bridge at Pontypridd and Windsor Bridge at Windsor, Berkshire.
Most footbridges are equipped with guard rails to reduce the risk of pedestrians falling. Where they pass over busy roads or railways, they may also include a fence or other such barrier to prevent pedestrians from jumping, or throwing projectiles onto the traffic below.
Railways
It was originally usual for passengers to cross from one railway platform to another by stepping over the tracks, but from the mid-19th century onwards safety demanded the provision of a footbridge (or underpass) at busier places. However, in some quieter areas, crossing the line by walking over the tracks is possible.
Catwalk
Narrow footbridges or walkways to allow workers access to parts of a structure otherwise difficult to reach are referred as catwalks or cat walks.[9] Such catwalks are located above a stage (theater catwalk) in a theater, between parts of a building, along the side of a bridge, on the inside of a tunnel, on the outside of any large storage tank in a refinery or elsewhere, etc. The walkway on the outside (top) of a railroad cars such as boxcars, before air brakes came into use, or on top of some covered hopper cars is also called a catwalk.[10] With the exception of those on top of railroad cars, catwalks are equipped with railings or handrails.
In developing countries
Since the early 1980s, several charities have developed standardized footbridge designs that are
Long footbridges
The record for the longest footbridge in the world was claimed by then
Sky Bridge 721, the longest pedestrian suspension bridge, which spans in the Králický Sněžník mountain in the Czech Republic, opened in May 2022. The 721 metres (2,365 ft) bridge hangs 95 metres (312 ft) above ground.[13]
The United Wholesale Mortgage Pedestrian Bridge in Pontiac, Michigan is the longest enclosed pedestrian bridge, completed on October 1, 2021. The 305 metre bridge was part of a $250 million project to UWM's offices, which converted a former warehouse and utilized shipping containers for offices, corridors, and other spaces.[14]
The Walkway Over The Hudson footbridge was originally built for trains, it was recently restored as a pedestrian walkway. The footbridge has a total length of 2,063 metres (6,768 ft). Before it was demolished in 2011, the Hornibrook Bridge which crossed Bramble Bay in Queensland, Australia was longer than the Poughkeepsie Bridge at 2.684 km (1.668 mi).[15]
Other footbridges
- Bank Bridge and the Bridge of Four Lions in Saint Petersburg
- Big Dam Bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock, Arkansas
- Big Four Bridge between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana
- Capilano Suspension Bridge in British Columbia
- Central Elevated Walkway, an extensive network of footbridges in Central, Victoria City, Hong Kong
- Chain of Rocks Bridge near St. Louis, Missouri
- Corktown Footbridge in Ottawa
- Davenport Skybridge in Davenport, Iowa
- Dunlop Bridge at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, Sarthe, France
- Esplanade Riel in Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Gateshead Millennium Bridge, London, England
- Goodwill Bridge at Brisbane, Australia
- Gorkha Bridge in the Gorkha District, Nepal
- Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin, Ireland
- Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges, London, England
- Jade Belt Bridge in the Summer Palace in Beijing
- Kaldnes Bridge in Tønsberg, Norway
- Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, Omaha, Nebraska
- Kingsgate Bridge in Durham, England
- Liberty Bridge at Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, South Carolina
- Millennium Bridge and the high-level walkways in Tower Bridge in London
- Perth, Western Australia
- Mishima Skywalk in Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
- Newport Southbank Bridge between Newport, Kentucky and Cincinnati
- Pont des Arts in Paris
- Ponte Milvio in Rome
- Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome
- Pushkinsky and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Pedestrian bridges in Moscow
- Rolling Bridge at Paddington Basin, London
- St Elmo Bridge in Valletta, Malta
- Southbank footbridge in Southbank, Victoria
- Shelby Street Bridge in Nashville, Tennessee
- Tournament Bridge* The Waco Suspension Bridge in Waco, Texas
- Pedestrian walkway over the Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection in Paradise, Nevada
- Walnut Street Bridges in Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Melbourne Docklands
- Willimantic Footbridge in Willimantic, Connecticut
- Saphan Han in Bangkok, Thailand
- Saphan Hok in Bangkok, Thailand
- Pi Kun Bridgein Bangkok, Thailand
- Uttamanusorn Bridge in Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Advantages
Much rural travel takes place on local footpaths, tracks and village roads. These provide essential access to water, firewood, farm plots and the classified road network. Communities and/or local government are generally responsible for this infrastructure.[16]
Disadvantages
Pedestrian overpasses over highways or railroads are expensive, especially when elevators or long ramps for wheelchair users are required. Without elevators or ramps, people with mobility handicaps will not be able to use the structure. People may prefer to walk across a busy road rather than climb a bridge. It is recommended that overpasses should only be used where the number of users justify the costs.[17]
Narrow, enclosed structures can result in perceptions of low personal security among users. Wider structures and good lighting can help reduce this.[18]
Gallery
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Boardwalk across theArdenne, Belgium
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A footbridge to an orthodox church in Greece
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A pedestrian overcross in Nanjing Road, Shanghai
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A footbridge with elevators on each corner of a four-way intersection in Tokyo
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Tamchog Chakzam bridge, Bhutan
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Steel footbridge over Böser Ellbach stream, Black Forest, Germany
Bicycle bridge
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022) |
A bicycle bridge is a bridge designed to be accessible to both bicycles and pedestrians or in some cases only to bicycles.
See also
- Don Burnett Bicycle-Pedestrian Bridge
- Footpath
- Garden Bridge, London, England
- Hoogholtje bridge, Netherlands
- Pedestrian separation structure (overpass)
- Pedway
- Walkway and Canopy walkway
- Wildlife crossing
References
- ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ Brunning, Richard (February 2001). "The Somerset Levels". Current Archaeology. XV (4) (172 (Special issue on Wetlands)): 139–143.
- ^ National Parks Conference, Department of the Interior (1915). Proceedings of the National parks conference held at Berkeley, California March 11, 12, and 13, 1915. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 60. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
(A log bridge) is a bridge composed of log beams, the logs being in natural condition or hewn, which are thrown across two abutments, and over which traffic may pass.
- ISBN 978-0-7277-2774-9. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
- ISBN 1-84114-226-3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 October 2008.
- ^ "Vor 20 Jahren brannte die Kapellbrücke". Luzerner Zeitung (in German). Lucerne, Switzerland. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
- ^ ISBN 2-88394-072-X
- ^ Jeswald, P. (2005). How to build paths, steps & Footbridges. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing.
- ^ "Negligence Petroleum storage tank exploded" (PDF). July 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ "catwalk". webster-dictionary.net. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ [1] Archived May 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "WALKWAY OPENS, THOUSANDS EXPLORE UNIQUE STATE PARK". Poughkeepsie Journal. Poughkeepsie, New York. October 3, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ "Sky Bridge 721". Dolní Morava. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
- ^ "YEA 2021- United Wholesale Mortgage Pedestrian Bridge & Office Renovation". Civil + Structural Engineer Media. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "Final Curtain for the Hornibrook Highway". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06.
- ^ "Foot Bridges: A Manual for Construction at Community and District Level" (PDF). I.T. Transport. Prepared for the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2007. Also available on the British government website gov.uk.
- ^ "Pedestrian Overpasses/Underpasses". Pedestrian Bicycle Information Center. Archived from the original on 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
- ^ Rory Renfro (June 2007). "Pedestrian/Bicycle Overcrossings: Lessons Learned" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-06-09.