Lincoln Avenue Pedestrian Bridge in Lone Tree, Colorado. Courtesy Fentress Architects (left).
Lincoln Avenue Pedestrian Bridge
Overview
Thornton Tomasetti provided structural design and engineering services for the new pedestrian bridge, which links the Willow Creek Trail and enables walkers, joggers and bicyclists to safely cross busy Lincoln Avenue, which sees up to 89,000 vehicles a day. Spanning 170 feet, the cable-stayed, landmark structure features a large, leaf-shaped mast on its south end that rises 78 feet. Six pairs of cables extend from the leaf to support the bridge. A translucent ETFE roof allows sunlight to pass through while providing protection from the elements with lighting that
illuminates the roof at night.
The final sizing of the bridge was a balancing act between the strength to carry the imposed loads, stiffness to yield acceptance movements under use, economy through efficiency of sections, type of member and detailing and close attention to the aesthetic vision.
The cable-stay structure was chosen because it is a highly efficient design that reduces the weight of the bridge, as well as the amount of materials and costs involved in its construction. The pylon base is influenced by the fabrication process and the erection requirements. The Thornton Tomasetti project team worked closely with the fabricator and developed local finite element models of connections to optimize the configuration and sizing of the pylon and to facilitate an accelerated procurement process.
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