Humber River Bridge | Part 1

Hi, my name is Brad Golden and along with my partner Lynne Eichenberg we worked on the Humber River Bicycle Pedestrian Bridge that you're standing at right now. This is an interesting project in that it is a multi-disciplinary collaborative project that involved as designers: architects, landscape architects, engineers and artists as well as a very enlightened and very encouraging client. This project is somewhat unique in that it was a true collaboration amongst multiple design disciplines. And we believe that the bridge stands now as a work of art, as a work of architecture, and a work of landscape design as well as urban design.

The form of the bridge itself is metaphoric. The form of the bridge itself joins 2 jurisdictions, it joins 2 shorelines, but more importantly it joins time, it joins  history and it makes a connection across the mouth of the Humber River, which is a very, very important waterway within the city of Toronto. Our city is defined or bounded by the Humber River to the west and the Don River to the east. And both are very, very important to the growth, development of our city.

If you look at the bridge in its totality, it's a very elegant structure. Its form is called a "tied-arch bridge", and you can see many reminiscent historic aspects to the bridge as to where that bridge might come from. There's a large bow-like structure, and then the deck itself, the piece that joins the shorelines, is part of the structure itself. So it's almost as if those strings are taut putting the bridge into the tension that you see it in. As well the bridge sits upon these two very substantial abutments, which thrust themselves very deep into the shoreline on either side deep into bedrock and provide the bearing capacity for the bridge itself.

Want to hear more? Check out Part 2!

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