The bridge articulates St. Paul’s relationship to the Mississippi with a rich degree of detail and tactility.
WABASHA STREET BRIDGE
ST. PAUL, USA
1992
BackImages
BRIDGE IN CONTEXT
RENDERING OF STRUCTURE
SECTION
PLAN
AXON
DETAIL OF MID-ISLAND ACCESS
MID-ISLAND OUTLOOK
BRIDGE DECK BENDS AT MID-ISLAND
Description
The Wabasha Street Bridge Project was initiated by an international competition organized by Public Art St. Paul, representing the unusual program of the Public Works Department to charge an artist with the primary conceptual, form giving, and detail responsibilities of designing this major public works project.
Focusing on ideas developed in discussions with a representative Community Task Force, JCDA established the central design program for this project: to reactivate the long ignored river front; to visually emphasize and encourage pedestrian traffic across the river and down to the mid-river island; and to develop a conceptual master plan for a new park system along the river.
These parameters led to the development of a unique twin mast cable stay structure with a cable supported torsion box below deck, accommodating a bend in the roadway which reinforces the continuation of Wabasha Street. Beginning at street level in downtown St. Paul, the central pedestrian path, suspended between cables, reaches the observation platforms at the roadway bend high above the island. From this gathering place, sweeping views up and down river are afforded to the pedestrian and cyclist, as well as direct elevator and stair access to the island.
Client: Public Art St. Paul
Concept Structural Consultant: Schlaich Bergmann and Partners
Structural Engineering: Toltz, King, Duvall, Anderson & Assoc. / Sverdrup Corporation