Design and construction of a new stress-ribbon pedestrian bridge in the Italian Alps

Abstract

A new stress-ribbon pedestrian bridge has been built over a 60 m deep part of the Gander River valley in the Italian Alps. Completed in 2021, the 118 m long structure now provides a safer and more direct link between the mountain villages of Barbiano and Saubach. It is the longest stress-ribbon bridge in Italy and one of the longest in Europe. This paper describes the complex non-linear design, construction and load-testing of the attractive low-impact structure. It concludes that with sufficiently competent designers and contractors, stress-ribbon pedestrian bridges have a potentially wide application.