Bergwijk bridge Merelbeke

cyclist safety

The road bridge across the Ringvaart canal in the Belgian municipality of Merelbeke, near Gent, was a bottleneck in the local bicycle network. The bridge itself was built in 1957 and had reached the end of its lifespan. This of course provided an excellent opportunity. Together with SBE and Franki Construct we designed a new bridge to replace the existing one. It will allow cyclists to safely cross the Ringvaart and the cycle route will be part of the F40 bicycle fast lane around Gent.

structural concept

The previous bridge was a concrete self-anchored suspension bridge, which was built at the same time as the canal itself. It was designed by the world-renowned professor Vandepitte, associated with Ghent University. The new bridge had to reflect the structural concept of the existing bridge. Hence we designed an externally prestressed concrete bridge. To allow for plenty of space for cyclists and to offer them a safe crossing, we added a cantilevered light fibre reinforced composite bicycle deck on one side of the main deck.

integrated lighting

The functional lighting on the new bridge is attached to steel cables across the main deck, leaving the bridge structure itself to be the focal point. In addition, we designed integrated lighting in the handrails and the pylon tops, which emphasises the bridge structure and its iconic quality at night.