Il ponte mobile di Merchant Square a Londra— Merchant Square Footbridge in London
Knight Architects e AKT II per l’ingegneria strutturale hanno progettato il Merchant Square Footbridge, struttura a sbalzo larga tre metri che si estende per venti metri e attraversa il Grand Union Canal. Quando serve, viene sollevata utilizzando martinetti idraulici con un’azione simile a quella di un tradizionale ventilatore giapponese. Questo crea una scultura cinetica la cui silhouette è sia leggibile che straordinaria e che ben si adatta alla posizione accanto al canale. Le cinque travi di acciaio fabbricate che formano il ponte si aprono in sequenza, con il primo che sale ad un angolo di 70 gradi e l’ultimo raggiunge la distanza richiesta sul canale di 2,5 m di altezza per 5,5 m di larghezza a metà canale. I contrappesi sagomati aiutano il meccanismo idraulico e riducono l’energia necessaria per spostare la struttura (photo Edmund Sumner).
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Knight Architects and structural engineers AKT II have designed the Merchant Square Footbridge, the 3m wide cantilevered structure spans 20m across the Grand Union Canal and is raised using hydraulic jacks with an action similar to that of a traditional Japanese hand fan. This creates a kinetic sculpture whose silhouette is both legible and extraordinary and which is well suited to the position next to the canal. The five fabricated steel beams forming the deck open in sequence, with the first rising to an angle of 70 degrees and the last achieving the required clearance over the canal of 2.5m tall by 5.5m wide at mid channel. Shaped counterweights assist the hydraulic mechanism and reduce the energy required to move the structure(p hoto Edmund Sumner).
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