Balingen Footbridge

Moxon Architects has completed a pedestrian and cycle bridge for the town of Balingen in southern Germany, a design collaboration with timber bridge engineering specialist Ingenieurbüro Miebach.

Balingen Footbridge embodies the town’s ambitious dual commitment to design excellence and a sustainable future, while offering a sympathetic response to the natural river setting. Unveiled ahead of the 2023 Baden-Würtemberg Garden Show, the bridge will form a focal showpiece of a 14-hectare regeneration for the event. As well as linking event venues, the new bridge strengthens Balingen’s network of foot and cycle paths and will serve as a catalyst for further responsible regeneration of the River Eyach, a revived amenity which runs through the town.

The footbridge also sets an important exemplar in the creation of sustainable infrastructure, through timber construction, in place of steel and concrete. The innovative, sustainable, and low-maintenance bridge features a pair of structural timber beams spanning 40 metres over the river at an oblique angle, cradling pedestrians and cyclists upon a 3.0m wide fibre reinforced plastic deck. At both ends of the bridge, the structure widens to 5.0m, allowing comfortable access.

The two subtly angled and tapered beams are designed to flare outwards in plan as they approach either riverbank, embracing the town’s network of footpaths and cycle tracks. The beams extend above the level of the deck to form the bridge’s parapet sides – a necessity allowing the bridge to clear future predicted flood levels while enabling fully accessible gradients at either Balingen Bridge Completes | Page 2 of 3 approach.

The visible, outward leaning outer faces of the shaped glulam beams will weather naturally over time. The inner, pedestrian facing surfaces are clad in native timber slats with integrated lighting and handrails. Ingenieurbüro Miebach and Moxon won the project in an invited competition in 2019, and the timber bridge adds to both practices rich bridge portfolios; Moxon’s includes a pair of bridges over the Regents Canal for the King’s Cross regeneration in London, a pedestrian swing bridge at Greenwich Reach in London and the recently completed meandering footbridge along the Thames Path beneath the existing Barnes Bridge at Chiswick, UK.