The bridge on the pasture land – the bridge to overcome barriers
The project originates from an agreement about the landscape permeability between the land owners, the local community and architects.
For the entire team it is synonymous with harmony between humans, animals, and vegetation in a revitalized land formerly devastated by conventional agriculture.
The form of the bridge comes out of the natural human and animal movement trajectories. It co-creates a new landscape without barriers.
The initial vision – a beautiful stone wall – meanders through the landscape, raises into a bridge, and sinks back.
The stone wave in the landscape.
The humans walk on the bridge path over the pasture, the cows walk under the bridge.
The landscape structure defines the scale of the construction as well as the materials – stone and wood.
Then the finances come on the scene. The form of the landscape wave stays. The project searches for the most economical solution without losing its sensitive landscape connections and its materials.
The dimension of the terrain adjustments stays the same, the stone wave is transformed into a wall from large stone blocks supporting the bridge and guiding the cattle into the passage between the pastures.

Construction and Technology

The primary building material used is stone – large stone blocks weighing between 0.25 to 1 ton. The quarry stone was selected from the Rosice quarry (Bíteš orthorhombic gneiss). The blocks have pleasant shapes and proportions, with an earthy color. The stones are used to construct the bridge abutments, including the connecting approaches that stabilize the slopes. Structurally, it is a steel beam bridge, with the main supporting structure of the bridge deck consisting of three steel profiles, and the bridge deck itself is made of larch planks.

The clearance of the bridge opening and the span are defined by the requirement for comfortable movement of livestock and the size of the service vehicle (clear height of 2.2 m, width of 2.5 m).

The supporting part of the railing is anchored by four posts made of acacia poles. The actual railing consists of a horizontal handrail and irregularly twisted pole fillings.