Trois-Soeurs Pedestrian Bridge

Situated on the Saint-Charles River in Quebec city, linking Bourdages Street to Victoria Park, the  Trois Sœurs Bridge, whose name refers to a former Native American farming custom, stands out with its form and materiality. The use of wood as the main structure represented a major challenge, but contributed to the harmonious integration of the footbridge with its environment.

The renaturalization of the Saint-Charles River restored access to its banks, recreating an inviting landscape. The Trois Sœurs Bridge is undeniably in continuity with these recent interventions. Without denaturing the site, it marks the landscape by its elegance and character.

Asymmetric and inclined, the footbridge is distinguishable by the hybrid nature of its structural components. On park side, an imposing pylon forms an "A" shape composed of two glue laminated black spruce columns of 900 mm in diameter, inclined towards the river, creating a gateway. The posts are fastened and crowned by an imposing steel head, allowing the fixation of the shrouds that holds and supports the deck. This precisely sculpted head, besides respecting the numerous technical constraints associated with the anchoring of the shrouds, acts as a visual guide. Immaculately white and reflective, it gushes through the trees to surprise and orient the walkers.

The pedestrian bridge deck, which spans over 53 meters, consists of a cross laminated timber structure (CLT) layed on top of two 1.8 meter high glue laminated beams. These beams are supported by light steel shrouds. This innovative composition astonishes by its originality and its singularity. All the steel elements are painted in glossy white to detach them from the natural color of the wood and create an interesting contrast. In order to minimize the footprint of the accesses to the bridge and thus to avoid denaturing the site, the concrete abutments were carefully carved so that their "V" shape espouses the banks of the river. They seem to emerge from the shore, like rocks polished by the flow of water.

The guardrails are composed of curved plates on which are welded vertical thin spindles. They allow to generously open the sight on the river but also to conceal, in the lower part, the different systems that compose the deck. The sober and discreet lighting of the footbridge is integrated in the upper part of the guardrails and in the head of the "A" post.