Hundreds of residents watch Lee Hsien Loong christen the ‘Alexandra Arch’

The Buro Happold designed Alexandra Arch bridge has been officially opened to provide a vital crossing over Singapore’s busy Alexandra Road – which it spans like an opened leaf – to link the Telok Blangah Heights in the east of the city with a new horticulture park and Kent Ridge in the west.

After winning an international competition for the bridge and adjacent walkway in 2004 (with local practices LOOK Architects and Ecas-EJ Consultants) Buro Happold was retained to develop the detailed design for the bridge, which the consultancy started in early 2005. Construction commenced in mid-2006 and was completed this spring.

The pedestrian and cycle bridge is an asymmetric structure, comprising of a single leaning arch supported by means of hanger fins, with a deck profiled in cross section and curved in plan. Its arch rises 17 metres above ground level with 60 metres between springing points.

The four metre wide granite-surfaced deck is 80 metres in length and is designed to act as a torsion box. The bridge’s arch, deck and fins are all fabricated from steel and the whole assembly is supported by raking concrete piers which in turn are supported on piled foundations.

Kien Hoang, Senior Bridge Engineer at Buro Happold. said: “This has been a very interesting project for us. As always, turning a competition winning concept into steel-and-concrete reality, while remaining faithful to the original vision, was a real challenge. But it was one that we enjoyed and ultimately we are very pleased with the end product and proud to have been involved in such a great project.”

The bridge will be illuminated with a vibrant light display between 7pm and 12am daily.

Note to Editors:

Buro Happold

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Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. We now employ over 1,800 staff in 21 offices worldwide, and our aim is to produce high quality engineering design in concept, in detail and in execution, on time, to programme and delivering excellent value for money. Our distinctive culture and ethos is still based on the same principles of care, value and elegance that were established when the practice was founded.

We offer structural, building services, civil, infrastructure and façade engineering, as well as a broad range of specialist consultancy services including sustainability, ground and environmental engineering, fire and security design, health and safety management, inclusive and urban design, project management, and specialist CAD and computer simulation provision.