Conceived by Thomas Heatherwick, a British designer, the Rolling Bridge is a bridge which spends most of its time literally curled up in an octagon, resembling an intricate modern art sculpture, at the side of an inlet of the Grand Union Canal. However, at noon each Friday, the bridge uncurls itself and its eight triangular sections straighten out right across the inlet, to provide bridge access to the other side.
Conceived by Thomas Heatherwick, a British designer, the Rolling Bridge is a bridge which spends most of its time literally curled up in an octagon, resembling an intricate modern art sculpture, at the side of an inlet of the Grand Union Canal. However, at noon each Friday, the bridge uncurls itself and its eight triangular sections straighten out right across the inlet, to provide bridge access to the other side.
The Rolling Bridge was created in 2004 for the grand development of the Grand Union Canal office and retail project, to provide a pedestrian bridge across an inlet of the canal itself. The innovative design of individual triangular parts, along with concealed hydraulic cylinders means that the bridge can literally curl up to let boats through the inlet, or remain curled down to allow pedestrians a safe path across the water.
Such innovation, a real alternative to the more popular shifting of rigid parts of traditional raising bridges, has quickly led to the bridge having a real novelty factor with locals and visitors as well as having a design prestige for the implementation of its hydraulic mechanism for curling and retracting. As such, this bridge won the British Structural Steel Design Award in 2005 and an Emerging Architecture award.
The bridge is an interesting attraction for anyone who likes architecture, engineering and design or who might appreciate the gentle artistry and even choreography of watching this magnificent structure curl and uncurl itself.
Vanessa
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