The Basque Government and the Bilbao City Council present the bridge which will loin San Ignacio and Zorrotzaurre

This morning, at a meeting presided over by the Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto and the Minister for employment and Social Policy, Angel Toña, the design of the new bridge, which is to join San Igancio to Zorrotzaurre, was presented.

The project was designed by the civil engineers, Enrique Elkoroberezibar y Sergio Saiz, of LKS Ingeniería.

The bridge will be 75 metres long without supports in the water and will be 28 metres wide. The breakdown of the width is: 6.7 metres for two traffic lanes, 7.0 metres for 2 bus lanes, 2.5 metres for a cycle path and 8.8 metres for two pedestrian pavements of 4.4 metres each.

The design is based on two white symmetrical arches which start from the channel under the bridge and gradually rise above it to a maximum height of 3 metres. The railings will be of security glass without a frame and finished with an upper, undulating rail that will act as an incentive to stop and contemplate the river. Both elements make for an elegant but sober design that transmits an essential lightness so that the bridge will be seen as a slight object resting on two solid concrete supports.

Steel is the main construction material. The pavements will be made of grey synthetic wood and the cycle path of reddish micro-agglomerate.

Lighting will be provided by two, 12 metre columns, one on each side of the bridge. Separate specific lighting has been provided for the arches.

The bridge has been designed to accommodate the maximum rise of the river foreseen as a 500 year event and, to facilitate drainage, will have at least one metre of additional  safeguard over a length of 40 metres of width centred on the canal.

The estimated cost of construction is 8 million euros, VAT excluded, and will be financed by the Basque Government. The construction is expected to last 17 months.

The San Ignacio-Zorrotzaurre bridge is the second to be started under the Zorrotzaurre urban renewal project. The first, the Frank Gehry bridge, which joins Deusto and Zorrotzaurre was opened to pedestrians last September 14th.