Pont Hans-Wilsdorf

Type

Espaces publics

Date de réalisation

2012

Ingénieur civil

ab ingénieurs sa

Maître de l'ouvrage

Fondation Hans Wilsdorf

Autre(s) intervenant(s)

Surface brute

1'470 m2

Coût

Procédure

mandat direct

Architecte

atelier d'architecture Brodbeck-Roulet

Interview de l'architecte

Descriptif

The construction of the Hans-Wilsdorf bridge stemmed from a public-private partnership, with the exclusive financial contribution of the Wilsdorf foundation, an emanation of the Rolex watch-making firm, whose administrative headquarters face the bridge. It is the first example of a construction in the public domain concluded according to this financial system in the Town of Geneva. It is located on the border of the future “Vernets” district, an urban sector currently undergoing complete reshaping and should finally accommodate several hundred dwellings. The project links the two banks of the Arve and creates a complex structure whose interlacing tubes with equivalent rectangular sections led to very detailed structural analyses. Within this organised tangle of painted, welded steel, the deck, supporting the road and pavements, is borne by three rows of simple structures with multiple supports. The object, a veritable sculpture placed above the river, is almost in alignment with rue de l’Ecole de Médecine and the new rue Hans-Wilsdort, a characteristic lost by the previous bridge. In coordination with the Town of Geneva, the various links to the river banks and the pre-existing roads were made, though not without difficulty, mainly on the right bank. At night the bridge is illuminated with coloured lights that highlight the structure’s design.