The Pedro e Inês bridge is a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

opened in 2007 in the town of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

in Portugal. It was designed by

Cecil Balmond Cecil Balmond OBE is a Sri Lankan– British designer, artist, and writer. In 1968 Balmond joined Ove Arup & Partners, leading him to become deputy chairman. In 2000 he founded design and research group, the AGU (Advanced Geometry Unit). He cu ...

Arup Group Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment ...

, and Portuguese

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

António Adão da Fonseca. Spanning the

Rio Mondego Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, the structure is the city's first footbridge and has become locally known as the "bridge that doesn't meet." Partly inspired by

skipping stones ''Capitol'' (1979) was Orson Scott Card's second published book, and first foray into science fiction. This collection of eleven short stories set in the Worthing series is no longer in print. However six of the stories have been reprinted in '' ...

, the design is created from two cantilevered walkways joining in the middle. Each walkway is responsible for supporting the other - the two halves are displaced, giving the visual effect of a bridge that does not meet. ''Wallpaper'' magazine said the bridge "appears at first glimpse to be impossible." The balustrade is made from a clear, fractal pattern crafted in coloured blue, pink, green and yellow glass. The bridge is named for the ill-fated affair between Pedro, the Crown Prince of Portugal, and the Queen's lady-in-waiting,

Inês de Castro Inês de Castro (; in Castilian: Inés; 1325 – 7 January 1355) was a Galician noblewoman and courtier, best known as lover and posthumously-recognized wife of King Peter I of Portugal. The dramatic circumstances of her relationship with Peter ...

References

External links

Work - Pedro e Inês
Balmond Studio
Footbridge over the river Mondego "Pedro e Inês"
afaconsult *
Business Publications

Arup journal * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedro e Ines bridge Pedestrian bridges in Portugal Coimbra Mondego basin 2007 establishments in Portugal Bridges completed in 2007