Transportation
Calatrava's Trinity River Bridge to Begin Construction
(archrecord.construction.com - 03/09/2006)
By David
Dillon
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| Images courtesy the Kreisberg
Group |
Whether a city needs a new image or
merely a stylish tweak, a Santiago Calatrava-designed bridge
could be just the ticket. Dallas is hoping so anyway, because
in 10 years it will have three of them, all spanning the meandering
Trinity River on the western edge of downtown.
Aware that the Trinity is both its greatest
natural asset and its biggest missed opportunity, city officials
hired Calatrava to design a signature bridge, extending Woodall
Rodgers Freeway into west Dallas. It will be called the Margaret
Hunt Hill Bridge, named for a noted Dallas philanthropist.
The $57 million span, funded by federal,
state and private contributions, is set to begin construction
sometime this spring. The exact date is not set. It will open
in 2008. The new bridge will feature a 300-foot-high parabolic
arch, reminiscent of Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch in St. Louis,
from which cables will descend in a grand spidery web.
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, perhaps swept
up in the moment, predicted the bridge would become "the
Eiffel Tower of Dallas."
Mr. Calatrava is also designing a 12-lane,
$145 million bridge for Interstate 30, and a companion piece
for Interstate 35 nearby, both also on the western edge of
downtown. The first is funded and is scheduled to open in
2010, the second probably five years later.
"Fifteen million people come to
Dallas every year," said the architect. "These bridges
will be the new civic gateways that create the image of your
city."
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