Model walkways

Technologically advanced material pleasing on the eye distinguishes the three walkways built by ACCIONA on the Manzanares River in Madrid. More than one million people are benefi ting already from these new infrastructures which improve pedestrian mobility at the same time as making up an aesthetic reputation for the "Madrid Rio Project".

Twin Walkways

Designed to connect the districts of Usera and Legazpi, these identical structures are at the same very distinct and easily recognized vaults supported by concrete struts which, seen from a distance, resemble the form of a broken eggshell. To construct each of these covers, ACCIONA's engineers and architects had to resort to a peculiar hand-made wooden mould which took over six months to make.

The secret is inside

These bridges reserve one of their most interesting secrets for those who decide to use them. Madrid photographer Daniel Canogar has decorated the interior of the vaults with the biggest photo mosaic in Europe. More than seven million tiles of less than a centimeter square each convert neighbours into users and protagonists of this new infrastructure.

Almuñécar Walkway

A walkway 43 metres in length long and 5 wide, formed from a single carbon and resin fi bre beam, which rises over the river without any intermediate support. This is the Almuñécar footbridge, the longest in the world made with these elements.

This new material weighs ten times less than those used conventionally, which has allowed the cost of moving it and putting it in place to be reduced. But the most important innovation offered by the composite is that it doesn't suffer from the phenomena of corrosion or deterioration caused by the passage of time and atmospheric conditions; this means the bridge's life is lengthened and investment in maintenance is less.

En record time

But the materials used are not the only novelty: the construction processes also claim a milestone of their own. The challenge demanded that the enormous platform of the walkway be placed in the least time possible and without using temporary supports in the bed of the river.

The process didn't pass unnoticed by neighbours in the zone, who witnessed how a civil engineering work could be completed in less than 24 hours thanks to the labours of research and development done by ACCIONA's R&D professionals. Like handling a giant piece of Lego, a crane placed the footbridge on its fi nal anchorages on both banks of the river, ready for use by pedestrians and cyclists alike.