Trinity bridge model unveiled
Work on famed architect's $73 million span could begin in '05
Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
June 4, 2003
Author: DAVID FLICK; Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 2

The public got its first look Tuesday at what Dallas officials hope will one day become a city landmark - a $73 million bridge designed by celebrated Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
The structure will guide six lanes of traffic 1,800 feet between Woodall Rodgers Freeway near downtown and Singleton Boulevard in West Dallas.

But Mr. Calatrava told a crowded City Hall news conference that he hoped his design would achieve much more than expediting traffic flow.

"We want to create a gate linking two parts of the city," he explained as he presented a model of the bridge. "It will be an event to go from one area of the city to another."

The most striking feature of the bridge is a single parabolic arch soaring 300 feet above the Trinity riverbed, strung with a double line of cables that curve over the top of the supporting structure.

The two lines of cable, placed every 6 feet along the road median, form geometric designs that appear to change shape as the viewer moves.

Rebecca Dugger, director of the Trinity River Corridor Project, said the $73 million required to build the structure has been raised from a combination of private and governmental sources.

After local and state transportation officials discuss and modify the plan, construction could begin in mid-2005, she said. Completion should take an additional 21/2 to three years.

Dallas leaders originally envisioned five Calatrava bridges across the Trinity, but money has so far been found for only the Woodall Rodgers extension.

Mr. Calatrava said he hoped the bridge would be the first of several. But he said that whatever the outcome, the structure unveiled Tuesday would cast a benign influence on the architecture of the area.

"My belief is that bridges create their own unity," he said.

He compared the effort to Renaissance Venice, where construction of a series of bridges over the centuries unified the city's vision of itself.

The initial reaction of city officials and staff was enthusiastic, though with some reservations.

"Is there a pedestrian walkway? Where can I ride my bicycle across?" asked Dallas City Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill when she first saw the model.

The plan unveiled Tuesday had no such walkway, but one could easily be added if funds became available, city officials said.

Council member Lois Finkelman expressed disappointment that the model did not incorporate the series of double spans that were in an earlier design. But she noted that the simplicity of the structure would make maintenance cheaper and more accessible.

Most of those present, however, used language similar to Ms. Dugger's, who pronounced the model "graceful and elegant. I think it's wonderful."

Ms. Lill said that if the bridge does become a landmark for the city, it would be a fitting one.

"You see it differently when you see it from different angles," she said. "And Dallas is like that. It has so many different aspects."

E-mail dflick@dallasnews.com