Design and construction of Frank Gehry Bridge. First access to the new Island of Zorrotzaurre in Bilbao

Abstract

Named after Frank Gehry as homage by Bilbao's City Council, the bridge will materialize the first connection of this island with the rest of the urban fabric. It saves the watercourse with a main span of 76.9m and an average width of 28m, using an innovative design concept which combines two structural schemes: an inverted Fink Truss and a three span variable height beam. It is a bridge of major interest due to the structural type used, without any precedent in road bridges. The bridge construction is carried out on land, counting on real time monitoring of all structural elements during bridge cables tensioning, with Internet remote access.