The city of Wuxi, which is located along the Peking–Shanghai bullet train line, is undergoing major infrastructure renewal and expansion, according to Sami Niemelä, head of WSP’s Bridge Unit, and Professor Pekka Salminen, PES-Architects.
The bridge will be constructed near the new bullet train station in the central park of Wuxi’s New City area. Today Wuxi has more than seven million inhabitants. Professor Pekka Salminen, who is also responsible for the design of the new Wuxi Grand Theatre, was invited to take part in the bridge design competition. He requested that WSP Finland collaborate with his firm, PES-Architects, in the competition.
”The bridge, which crosses a small lake, is suspended by two independent and inclined pylons that are located on a central man-made island. Our design proposal merges minimalistic Finnish design with a traditional Chinese story. The title of the design is The Dancing Bridge, because the inclined pylons resemble a pair of dancers,” say Sami Niemelä and Pekka Salminen, the designers behind the winning entry.
”We decided to build a cable-stayed bridge. The bridge deck is a steel-concrete composite structure – that is, welded steel girder and concrete plate. The girder is covered with stainless steel cladding. The bridge design features a gentle S bend, which, according to Chinese tradition, ensures that the traveler will face no danger, as evil spirits will eventually lose their way in the curved shape,” says Sami Niemelä.
”Wuxi is growing rapidly, so the construction of the bridge will begin immediately. We expect the bridge to be opened during this year,” adds Niemelä.
In recent years, WSP Finland has won numerous design competitions for bridges and urban planning projects in Finland and Asia. Bridge sites in Finland include Turku, Helsinki, Tampere, Pori, Joensuu and Kajaani. In Asia, WSP has designed bridges in Vietnam and India.
”When I introduced WSP Finland to our Chinese customers, they were impressed with WSP Finland’s references and reputation. In fact, they knew the name already,” says Pekka Salminen, who has designed several buildings in China in recent years.
”Winning this competition is an important milestone for us in China. The collaboration between PES-Architects and WSP Finland is proof that top Finnish design firms can also succeed in the world’s most important growth areas,” says Kirsi Hautala, Managing Director of WSP Finland.
For more information:
Sami Niemelä, Head of Unit, Bridges, tel. +358 400 157 998
Kirsi Hautala, Managing Director, tel. +358 40 845 5481
WSP's bridge team from left in front: Ilkka Ojala, Kalle Nikula, Simon de Neumann and Sami Niemelä