MICHAEL VAN VALKENBURGH ASSOCIATES
Ted Zoli, a MacArthur Foundation
Genius Award winner who serves as national bridge chief engineer for the HNTB
firm, used durable materials in constructing the bridge and made sure that
wheelchair users and others with limited mobility would enjoy the same access
as runners, cyclists and all visitors.
“The design is both innovative and
unusual, and it blends perfectly with the landscaping in Brooklyn Bridge Park,”
Zoli told HNTB Designer magazine.
Van Valkenburgh Associates prefers
landscape-based solutions to mechanically-based accessibility, with gentle
slopes instead of lifts or elevators.
“Ramped pathways and bridges are less
prone to technical difficulties, and they also create a stronger continuity of
landscape experience that is part of the enjoyment of being in a park,” says a
spokesperson for the Van Valkenburgh team.
“Once you decide that it is
important to connect two spaces through the landscape, it seems worth the
effort to make sure that everyone can use it.”
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