Arnulfsteg footbridge
The pedestrian and cycle bridge Arnulfsteg crosses 37 tracks in front of Central Station Munich and links the city quarters Nymphenburg-Neuhausen and Westend-Schwanthalerhöhe. It is located between the highly trafficked bridges Hackerbrücke and Donnersbergerbrücke and is the first independent, track-crossing pedestrian and cycle bridge away from the big main traffic routes in Munich. Moreover, the bridge creates direct access to the regional train station Donnersbergerbrücke.
In 2012 the City of Munich launched the competition including contract award as per VOF regulations at which 8 teams participated, and SSF Ingenieure's and Lang Hugger Rampp's design of a three-span steel Vierendeel bridge convinced the jury. Both longitudinal girders together with the orthotropic walking deck form a trough cross section which was mounted on the northern side away from the railway area and then launched over the entire railway installations.
Special features of the evenly high cross section are the lower chord frames which are first vertical and then, after stepping on the bridge, slowly turn outwards as well as the posts and upper chords which turn again inwards.
The glass elements attached to the upper load-bearing system serve as contact and weather protection and open the view to the city. They reflect the sunlight and the sky in varying brightness and intensity due to the alternating glass' incline throughout the bridge thus making the bridge livelier.
The openings in the glazing continuously get higher towards the middle of the bridge which, in addition to the variable cross section geometry creates another special experience when crossing the bridge.
The unique aesthetic of the structure is also reflected in the optics of the extravagant form of the ramps and staircases: ellipse-shaped in the north, loop-shaped in the south. The north square and its ramps are shielded by a planarly glazed 6-metre high noise barrier between the office and residential buildings and the railway installations.