A new type of “smart bridge” made from timber and concrete has been heralded as the first of a new type of durable and low-maintenance bridge that could be rolled out across Europe.
The Baiersbronn Bridge, designed by Moxon Architects and IB Miebach and showcased at Germany’s Gartenschau 2025 Garden Show, uses block-based glue-laminated timber beams as formwork for the concrete deck, which is cast in situ, to capitalise on concrete’s compression qualities and timber’s tensile strength.
Wood Central understands that it is then topped off with a steep parapet that hugs around the gentle bend of the bridge:
“Everything falls into place with this design. It is a story of two materials: the way they behave and interact structurally, functionally and formally,” according to Ezra Groskin of Moxon Architects, who said the 25-metre-long and 6-metre-wide bridge has an outer lean that deflects driving rain.
“This bridge is an expression of creative symbioses: the interdependence of timber and concrete; of site and geometry; and a process of continual innovation with our partners IB Miebach,” said Ben Addy, one of Moxon Architects’s founding directors.
Delivered to the site in parts, the 26-ton bridge was hung by a large truck-mounted crane before being placed on the prefabricated bearings. “The bridge is a so-called block girder construction made of glued timber with steel cables as railings and was manufactured in eight weeks near Emden,” according to Joachim Störk from the planning company Rothenhöfer, who has built more than 500 bridges across Europe. “With the new bridge, one can speak of simple elegance,” said Störk about the new showpiece in the centre of Baiersbronn.
- To learn more about timber bridges and new types of building systems available for new construction and repair, click here for Wood Central’s special feature last month.
