Loft Bridge

The Loft Bridge is a 14ft long footbridge that connects two mezzanine levels of a private residence in a historic artists’ building on Central Park South. The bridge structure is a composite of inked steel and American Walnut wood. 5 half-Vierendeel trusses, consisting of 3/8in steel plate fins, connect via steel tabs at irregular spacing to longitudinal wooden deck planks. The trusses are half Vierendeel because the upper connections between the steel tabs and the wood planks are not rigid and instead ½in diameter horizontal steel rod pins threaded through the structure. The spacing of the steel tabs is partly based on the shear distribution in the system. The basic module is 3 inches square and is visible in both the structural elements, themselves, and the voids between elements. All connections between steel and wood components are mechanical, allowing the entire structure to be disassembled and reassembled.