Heart-shaped retractable pedestrian bridge

With the idea of ​​creating a highlight for urban tourism, a group of students from the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the University of Transport designed a retractable pedestrian bridge in the shape of a heart.

Visitors view a model of the heart-shaped bridge at the Youth Creativity Festival exhibition - Photo: HUU THUAN

This project won first prize in the 8th Young Creative Ideas Competition in 2016, organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, with the theme "Urban Renovation and Development".

Combining a truss system and cable stays, the heart-shaped bridge has a tower with three fixed, load-bearing branches. Above the tower is a room concealing the engine. When the engine rotates, it retracts the cable stays, pulling the truss system vertically upwards. The wheels roll on the bridge's main rails, and the truss system contracts to form a heart shape.

In its normal state, the bridge's surface and sides are made of glass, giving pedestrians the feeling of walking in mid-air. The lighting system along the railings, suspension cables, towers, and piers makes the bridge sparkle at night.

At the Youth Creativity Festival exhibition, the heart-shaped bridge model attracted many visitors due to its aesthetic appeal and unique architecture. The model is 1.2m high and 3.2m long, with the main span forming the heart shape being 1.6m.

Two bridge piers are hypothetically placed on Hoang Sa and Truong Sa roads, crossing the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal.

According to Tuoitre.vn