Footbridge for bikes and pedestrians in Dobczyce

The site of the intervention was a small town of Dobczyce, located in a hilly area in the southern part of Poland. Founded in the Middle Ages it is surrounded by mixed forests and enriched by an artificial lake – a reservoir of drinking water. The footbridge was planned as a connection between the dam and the hill to enable passage from the road on the top of the reservoir dam to the paths leading to the castle. The design sought a language which combines the fragility of surrounding nature (rough sandstone and silt mixed with greenery) with the massive concrete dam and a vast lake behind.

The aim of the design was the shortest possible connection of the dam on the Raba River reservoir with the Castle Hill, while respecting the value of the location. Those two aims: the first, typical for bridges – connecting point A with point B, and the second – integrating it into a multi-element composition, reinforced each other throughout the design. As a result, a pedestrian and bicycle bridge was created, forming part of a local bike trail supplemented by pedestrian traffic, inscribed into the network of existing paths and functionally adapting to the natural environment and surrounding artifacts with its shape and construction material – both as an object in use and observed.

The structure is the consequence of this functional arrangement: a single span beam for the pedestrian bridge and a double-span beam for the bicycle bridge with a thin-walled cross-section resembling the shape of the letter “z”. The load bearing elements (apart from the metal sheets of the landings) also function as the outside railings of both parts. The vertical element connecting them is a web-plate of variable height. The floor of each part is different: on the bicycle bridge it has an epoxy-polyurethane resin finish, while on the footbridge the floor (as well as the balustrade) is wooden.