Bridge Scrap Book - JK Bridge
Adam, a former student has started an electronic bridge scrap book. He takes and collects pictures of bridges he’s seen on trips. This is the 2010 version of a similar thing I used to do as a kid. I had a bridge scrap book, but it was all hard copy. I would cut out pictures of bridges from magazines and assemble them in my scrap book. Back in those days, there was no internet, I-phones or indoor plumbing, and we had to walk 5 miles to school in the blinding snow.
Adam is very well travelled. He visited Brasilia, Brazil, the site of the Juscelino Kubitschek (JK) Bridge. The three span overdeck arch bridge crosses Lake Paranoa. It features a flashy and startling design, since the arches are out of plane requiring some fancy cable connections and details. In addition to the startle-factor due to the unexpected position of the arches, the bridge looks beautiful in overhead shots or from a distance (below). The bridge and its constructors have been recipients of several awards since its opening in 2002.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BSB_Ponte_JK_Helicoptero_02_2006_79_8x6.JPG
In close-up shots, the design is less impressive, I think. Adam took the pictures below from the shore. Because of the odd position of the arches, the lake ends up cluttered with extra piers and structural struts to hold the whole thing in place. Maybe if the arches were aligned with the longitudinal direction of the bridge, the detailing could have been cleaner, resutling in what I believe would be a more attractive bridge. 
Brian, I can't help but to agree with you. What is 'creative' and what is 'crazy'? There seems to be an emerging trend to 'play with' aesthetics just because it CAN be done. I'm not ...
There is no doubt that a sleek concrete arch is a beauty to behold, and the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge is an outstanding example of that. I believe that the JK arches ARE beautiful in themselves, but now so many designers are 'picking up' the concept of an arch which is non-concentric with the roadway that the idea is not novel anymore, but rather the blind repetition of a practice that makes no structural sense. OK....if you do it once, it's cool,
but now Moscow has one, Scotland has one.....the point has been made.
With the American Infrastructure, especially bridges, tottering as it is, wouldn't it stand to reason that more emphasis be placed upon finding a rapid solution for the replacement of our deteriorating bridges (such as is shown in this weeks ENR)? Get it done quickly, Get it done cheaply, Get it done nicely.......... just get it done. My hat is off to the designers who are following this path.
Please excuse my 'rivet-boy' mentality......I come from the age of ASTM A7 structural steel, and I truly do not want to offend anyone. I do love bridges.....but sometimes I feel that some of today's designs reflect the 'disordered' direction that our society seems to be taking.
Too much Roebling? Too much Ammann? They seemed to have had it 'all together' and served us well.
Once again, I apologize.....
Bobby Bridgeman
Babylon, New York
