A spectacular 'one-of-a-kind' concrete segmental bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway, designed not to disturb the surrounding landscape, located on the side of Grandfather Mountain near Linville, North Carolina
Photo taken by Calvin Sneed in November 2010
BH Photo #186352
Modern concrete beautifully used to best effect. Sometimes advances in technology do end up benefiting the engineering and the visual attractiveness of the structure.
Here are some construction pictures of the bridge.
As mentioned, each 50-ton section was pre-assembled and pre-cast at another location, then delivered to the construction site by special trucks via the parkway itself. This process was repeated 183 times (183 sections). Because of the S-curve design, no two segments are the same. Note the segmented balanced cantilever method of laying out and placing the girders in place.. pre-stressing tendons start on one side, and gradually decrease in size towards the midspan.. it's a careful and delicate style that has only been done at one other bridge, the San Juan Bridge in the Phillipines.
This bridge qualifies to be placed in the "S Bridge" category. So far, S Bridges are very rare. This bridge is a modern version of one.