Contractors Ferrovial and Oreco Balgón have completed “The Halo” pedestrian bridge in Vigo, northwestern Spain.
For the first time, it lets people living in the Areal district climb a steep gradient and cross directly over the AP-9 freeway to get to the neighbouring Vialia shopping district with its bus and train stations.
Before the Halo, they faced a 2km detour.
The shapely viaduct features a 36m-high concrete tower with two fast elevators leading up to an 86m-diameter metal walkway. Ferrovial said it lets people cross the freeway in 30 seconds.
The €15.7m project took around 18 months.
The walkway and elevator tower are clad with curved glass and self-cleaning panels. Each elevator car can carry 17 people.
The project is part of Vigo City Government’s Vigo Vertical initiative, which aims to improve access amid the city’s hilly terrain.
The viaduct is open 24 hours a day but the elevators close after 11pm (1am Fridays and Saturdays) so night-owl pedestrians will get a work-out on the stairs.
Ferrovial said they did much of the structural and finishing work at night to avoid having to close the busy freeway.
Design and supervision were carried out by Arenas & Asociados, AM2, and NOARQ.
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