Bac de Roda - Felipe II Bridge

By linking Calle de Felipe II with Calle de Bach de Roda, the bridge provides direct access to the sea and converts marginal areas of the city into a public park. The bridge is now a city landmark integrated into the urban landscape. With a total length of 128 metres, the bridge consists of three parts: a central segment, 45 metres long, over the railway track, and two side segments, 25 metres long, passing through the park. The side parts are connected to the green areas by four staircases, which start from the bases of the sloping arches, above the level of the road, to ensure visual continuity.

The structural elements of the bridge are foundations on piles, supports, superstructure, arches and central beams. The concrete posts, sinusoidal in shape in the central part, are formed by forward-slanting defence walls. The intermediate supports, about 4 metres high in the form of a truncated cone, transmit the vertical forces to the foundations and stabilise the bridge laterally. The central pendular supports are monolithic granite columns.

The superstructure of the bridge consists of hollow longitudinal elements supporting the traffic lanes with steel cross beams, while the pedestrian pavements widen in the centre to form two overhangs supported by the structural elements and the central arches. A vertical arch girder, connected to the bridge girder by tie rods, characterises the central segment, stabilised by lateral steel arches inclined at an angle of 60 degrees. This device of angled sloping arches not only eliminates the need for a truss between the main arches, but also creates a public space within the arches, making the bridge a place in its own right, rather than a mere conduit between places.

The stairs, which give access to the parks on both sides of the bridge, follow the profile of the supporting pillars, directing people to the pedestrian areas of the bridge.