Canadian architecture studio Provencher Roy has created Darwin Bridges, a curved bridge on Nuns' Island outside of Montreal constructed with concrete that utilises recycled glass in its mixture.
The structure replaces a set of two-lane bridges constructed in the 1960s to service the growing suburban community and connect it with the highway system.
The original bridges had fallen into disrepair, and local studio Provencher Roy was tapped to remake them. Provencher Roy conceptualised a curving form that continued its function as an automotive route but also considered the pedestrian access at its shoulders and underneath.
Provencher Roy updated a bridge on Nuns Island in Montreal
"The concept was always there, but the design and construction standards of the time favoured the automobile, with corrugated galvanized iron guardrails to prevent vehicles from falling," said Provencher Roy project manager Jacques Rousseau. "For this project, we were therefore working in a paradoxical 1960s context, on an innovative urban project to improve the user experience, while also contending with the formal urban treatments required for road transportation."
The curved bridges have arches along their length and were constructed using a cast-in-place concrete aggregate with a "less raw colour" than traditional concrete.
It was given a curved form with light-coloured concrete
Recycled glass converted to ground glass pozzolan (GGP) was included in the aggregate, c...