The new bridge over the Drava River, in the heart of Maribor, has as its main purpose to reconnect and revive two banks and two neighbourhoods of Lent and Tabor.
The bridge will act as a key element in reinstating historical traffic connections lost during the construction of Glavni Most and of the Drava reservoir, connecting the city centre and residential areas at the level of the river banks.
BRIDGE GEOMETRY
The plan geometry and the resulting platforms, created at two locations, feature the environment with amazing views towards the old bridge structure and views opening up to the natural landscape beyond as well as views towards the old town.
The platforms create a non linear passage over the bridge, allowing the user to experience the proximity to the water and the old bridge in a new and unexpected way.
STRUCTURE
The driving principle behind the structural concept for the proposal is to achieve a lightweight, efficient construction, resulting in a slender and non-intrusive structure.
The proposed structure is a 3-span continuous steel bridge with two concrete piers in the river. Pear locations correspond to the existing bridge. Arching the spans of the girder adds to its structural efficiency. The inherent torsional stiffness of the girder-box copes with forces generated by the geometric offset of the structure.The fabricated steel box girder deck is fully utilised structurally, making structural use of the parapets. The dynamic form of the bridge mirrors the flow of forces while the arching of each of the 40m spans, reduces the bending moments. The solid balustrade makes the flow of forces legible, an disappears where it is not needed.
Structural engineer: ARUP
