Fully Stress Laminated Timber Bridge

Abstract

<p>The combination of zero carbon emission infrastructures and low construction costs has become the most important challenge for civil engineers. Specifically, in developing countries, governments and communities should demand infrastructures which embrace a different design methodology using low impact materials and innovative building sequences to achieve sustainable, safe and accelerated constructions. The proposed footbridge, located in Central Africa, is a timber truss based on local materials which extends the timber stress lamination technology to all its parts. The resulting system is a structure made of small and light timber components that ease the construction and reduce the cost, representing a feasible solution for pedestrian bridges in developing countries. This design underlines the importance of concepts like constructability, sustainability and safety which should be shared by any construction in the 21th century.</p>