A 140-metre glass wall gently curves over the rail yard of the Turku Central Station, offering pedestrians a sheltered route over the railway tracks. Previously, the city of Turku had been divided in two by the river, but with the expansion of the city, the railway line became yet another divider. The nearest bridges are half a kilometre in both directions, so thanks to the new bridge the route from the city’s Market Square to the Logomo cultural venue has been significantly shortened. In the future, the bridge will also be used by passengers using the Turku Central Station, whose main route to the platforms will be via the bridge.

In the spring of 2016, six design teams consisting of engineers, architects and artists competed for the design of the bridge. The entry with the pseudonym ”Jousi” (”Bow”) was chosen as the winner, the jury characterising the design’s expression as ”neutrally complementary, but with an inner strength that radiates out to its surroundings, slowly unfolding”.

The bridge, completed in the autumn of 2021, looks precisely like the illustrations in the competition proposal. The central structure is a six-metre-wide triangular girder, suspended above the railway from inverted L-shaped towers. The actual pedestrian level hangs from the girder.

The shape connects important points on both sides of the railway track. The competition brief required the bridge to be able to continue over Ratapihankatu street, directly to the first floor of the commercial building. The current and planned platforms solution as well as the electric line also influenced the shape and placement of the bridge.

It was necessary to consider, for example, the impact loads, and due to occasional transportation of toxic materials, ventilation is required for the bridge. Free space between the tracks and the structures of the electric line limited the placement of the bridge structures. Thorough examination was required when moving something even just a bit. Even for the yet unbuilt lifts and stairs, many different versions were drawn up.

Source: Essi Oikarinen’s review and interview of architects Tom Cederqvist & Johannes Laiho, published in Finnish Architectural Review  1/2023