TYPOLOGY OF BRIDGES-TRANSITIONS BETWEEN BUILDINGS

Abstract

Considered are prerequisites and development features of bridges-transitions between buildings in the world architecture. With the rapid development of construction technologies, the widespread use of metal in the construction of public and residential buildings, as well as the strong aesthetic and functional demand from developers and residents, there is a need for open and closed multi-storey, multifunctional bridges between buildings.
 The term "bridge-transition" has been used only recently to refer to bridge structures placed between high-rise buildings. This term is commonly used to refer to urban pedestrian bridges installed at height and bridges located in mountain gorges. As the term "bridge-transition" is ambiguous and has several different meanings, it is necessary to define the term "bridge-transition" for the purposes of this study. In this study, a bridge-transition is defined as "a part of a building that allows pedestrians to pass into another building at a height."
 Based on the existing understanding of the communications spread inside a building, we can divide such bridges-transitions into point-communicative and multi-communicative. In each of these types, there are closed, open and mixed point-communicative or multi-communicative bridge-transitions between buildings. Multi-communicative bridges-transitions and their subsequent types can be further divided into bridges in one horizontal projection, e.g. one-level, and bridges in different horizontal projections, e.g. multi-level. The analysis of existing types of bridge-transitions allows to define a separate type of bridges-transitions as bridge-planes.
 The use of bridges-transitions in various building designs for various purposes is prompting more and more specialists-designers to incorporate these solutions into their projects, which fuels the public interest in the application of these solutions.