Puente de la Mujer

Women's Bridge
Puente de la Mujer


Location in Buenos Aires
Crosses Dock 3 in Puerto Madero
Locale Buenos Aires, Argentina
Characteristics
Design Forward cantilever with gate-swing opening
Material Steel, reinforced concrete
Total length 170 metres
Width 6.20 metres
Height 34 metres
Longest span 102.5 metres
History
Designer Santiago Calatrava
Construction begin 1998
Opened December 20, 2001
Statistics
Daily traffic pedestrian

Puente de la Mujer (Spanish for "Women's Bridge"), is a rotating footbridge for Dock 3 of the Puerto Madero commercial district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is of the Cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge type and is also a swing bridge, but somewhat unusual in its asymmetrical arrangement. It has a single mast with cables suspending a portion of the bridge which rotates 90 degrees in order to allow water traffic to pass. When it swings to allow watercraft passage, the far end comes to a resting point on a stabilizing pylon.

History

Designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava on a plan very similar to a 250-metre bridge over the Guadalquivir River in Seville, Spain (1992) and a 213-metre bridge over the Sacramento River in Redding, California (2004), it has a forward-, rather than a reverse-angled cantilever, as is seen in those bridges. Started in 1998, it was inaugurated on December 20, 2001, and is the first of only two Calatrava structures in Latin America. The architect has described the design as a synthesis of the image of a couple dancing the tango.

The 170-metre pedestrian bridge weighs 800 tonnes, is 6.20 m wide and is divided into two fixed portions, 25 m and 32.50 m long respectively, and a middle section of 102.5 m that rotates on a white concrete pylon, allowing vessels to pass in less than two minutes. This central section is supported by a steel "needle" with a concrete core, about 34 m high. The "needle," inclined at a 39° angle, anchors suspension cables which support the central span. A computer system at the eastern end of the bridge operates the turning mechanism when required.

The short pylon seen below and beyond the cantilever spar is the resting place when the bridge is open. The ship beyond is the museum ship Presidente Sarmiento

Inspiration

At dusk

A number of streets in the Puerto Madero district have women's names,[1] thus giving the bridge its name.

The work was conceived by businessman Alberto L. González, who donated money for its construction. Costing about $6 million, the bridge was manufactured by the Urssa steel fabrication conglomerate in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

According to business executive Bob Schmetterer, the bridge was not part of the original Puerto Madero project. Jorge Heymann, a Buenos Aires advertising executive, had been hired to develop an advertising campaign for Puerto Madero, but his analysis showed that the biggest challenge of the site was access, not public awareness. A landmark footbridge, Heymann suggested, while certainly more costly than an initial advertising campaign would have been, would be more practical and lasting. The developer agreed with the assessment, and he built the structure.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Google Map Numerous streets with woman's names shown.
  2. ↑ Bob Schmetterer, Leap: a revolution in creative business strategy, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p. 148-151.

Coordinates: 34°36′29″S 58°21′54″W / 34.607939°S 58.364911°W / -34.607939; -58.364911

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