Modern Footbridges – An Owner’s Dream or an Engineer’s Nightmare

Unlike modern signature highway bridge designs, which strive (sometimes unintentionally) to set firsts in length, scale, and cost, but are heavily constrained by current bridge design codes and the conservatism associated with building a publicly funded structure, today’s footbridge designs are often unfettered from these restrictions permitting engineers to create unimaginable structures at the behest of owners (private or public). For owners, these eccentric designs call attention to the beauty of certain forms or the creativity in elegantly meeting a defined function; however, for engineers, these designs often push the limits of structural analysis, behavior of materials, and constructability. As a result, when executed well, they highlight engineering innovation and progress; however, when they fail to perform as intended, they can create a nightmare of claims for the engineers and the contractors that build them.