|
Cox Rayner and Arup Inaugurate Tensegrity Bridge
in Brisbane
Brisbane, Australia’s new Kurilpa Bridge, said to be the world’s
largest tensegrity bridge,
was officially opened to the public. Designed by the Queensland division
of Australia’s Cox Rayner Architects with
Arup, the pedestrian and bicycle bridge connects
Brisbane’s central business district with the city’s
south bank and its major cultural precinct.
The bridge uses Buckminster
Fuller’s principle of tensegrity to produce a synergy between balanced tension and compression components
to create a light structure that is incredibly strong and entirely
supported by a mass of rods and cables.
Measuring about 1,542 feet long and 21 feet wide, the Kurilpa Bridge
has several viewing decks and a full-length canopy, both of which
are supported by a secondary tensegrity structure. At night, the
bridge will be lit with an LED lighting system that can be programmed
to produce an array of effects. |
