Submission #33 CLOSE

Bosen Lu (Toronto)

With a deeper seeing into the city Calgary, the eagle watching events roused a figure in my minds. From the city webpage I learnt that there are thousand of golden eagles migrate. Those powerful wings and sharp eyes gave me a sense of strength and responsibility. I finally decided that this bridge was to be an eagle taking off.

Shaped as an eagle, the bridge will definitely become another landmark of Calgary. Two gestures of the eagle can be seen on the Bridge. One is holding back folding the wings to the front and the other is volant. The bridge spans gracefully, like the eagle flying over the river, embracing the district with its wide wings. Its also represents the widely spread love for birds in the city. Walking on the Bridge, people will feel like the whole bridge is embraced by a giant eagle. They will be fascinated by the whole new experience and keep gaze at the whole thing. And surely the magnificent pure bird would soar with the city of Calgary.

The use of the arched cantilevers on the north is another significant breakthrough of this bridge. It can be elastic to some extent so that the bridge will not fall easily during earthquakes. But to avoid perceptible shake during everyday use, the north end of the Bridge is fixed to the bank and is braced. And the bionic ìbirde wingsî both provide a sturdy structure to suspend the bridge and reduce wind drag as well.

Like a lot of great constructions built in big recessions, I want this Bridge to have a sense of courage and hope. When people get over of recession and look back they will have a figure of a giant eagle taking off in their mind. The St. Patrickís Bridge not only connects the both banks and the island together but also stands for a power of coalescence. Pointing to the azure sky above, the Bridge represents a strong desire of revival and will witness the whole proceeding of this regeneration.

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