IN SHORT
At the request of Athen's Attiko Metro, Calatrava designed a new single-span stayed pedestrian bridge with inclined pylon and exterior counterstays crossing the Mesogion Avenue to connect with the Katehaki subway station in the city of Athens. The general typology is brought to its extreme with the Katehaki Pedestrian Bridge by locating the deck's stays in a single lateral plane and by endowing the pylon with a variably curved shape with its tieback situated in a vertical plane. The footbridge is accessible via two stairways complemented by two escalators and two elevators, while the southeast elevator provides direct access to the subway station.
The bridge is 93.7 meters (307 feet) long and spans 73.5 meters (241 feet) between supports. The deck's width varies from 3.95 meters (13 feet) at the northwest support to 5.67 meters (18.6 feet) at the southeast support. Situated at the bridge's southeast end, the pylon is formed by a steel box of a variable edge from 4.57 meters (15 feet) at its pickoff point to 0.8 meters (2.6 feet) at its peak with a total height of 50.48 meters (166 feet). Its shape resembles a spiral curve with a maximum curvature radius at the deck and a minimum at the top, where the counterstay's tieback is positioned.
The shape of the bridge is the result of a structural analysis carried out to minimize the bending of the pylon and making its geometry a combination between architectural aesthetic with engineering function. The stays from pylon to deck is comprised of fifteen parallel cables on the same plane, which resembles the form of a harp. The counterstays consist of two vertical cables with a slight inclination towards the plane of the deck, allowing the width of the pylon to be drastically reduced while improving its function.
The structure is designed with only three supports. At the northwest end, the deck's lintel rests on two parallel supports. The third support corresponds to the pylon's pickoff point. With its light structure and technical elegance, the bridge and its stairways make up an enclosure of undeniable aesthetic appeal. To express the bridge's lightness and elegant form, no lamp posts were installed on the deck. The bridge is illuminated indirectly from the lamps placed among the ribs below its glasssurfaced deck. Luminaires are also embedded in the pylon to highlight the pylon and stays placed at the pad of the stairways access.
YEAR
2001 - 2004
ADDRESS
Leoforos Mesogeion 136-138
115 27,Athens
Greece