A Beautiful New Bridge

The graceful Danjiang Bridge in Taiwan will soon be completed. It was the last major project designed by the legendary Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid before she passed away. Hadid was known as “The Queen of Curves” due to the flowing majesty of her designs. Her final project will be the longest single-span, single-mast, cable-stayed bridge in the world. In addition to the main roadway, it will have lanes dedicated for pedestrians and cycling. There is also room to add a light rail network in the future. What makes this bridge special is the way that its design blends in with the natural beauty that surrounds it. Visual impact is minimized by using a single concrete mast that is as slender as possible, yet strong enough to support the entire span. Rising 200 meters from the sea, it uses asymmetrical cable-stayed technology to be as unobtrusive as possible. The way it works is that two separate lines of cables stretch along both sides of the bridge, and then wrap around one side of the mast. The placement of the mast has been selected to avoid interfering with views of the sunset, while also reducing the impact on both the sensitive estuary ecosystem and boat traffic. It is a fitting final example of the genius that Ms Hadid brought to the profession of engineering architecture.