Any idea why this unique circular road bridge on the Laguna Garzón, Uruguay was built by Rafael Vinoly Architects? Designers do not often think about making their bridge round, but there must be a need and purpose to do so. : architecture

I discovered some extra details about this peculiar round highway bridge as:

“The idea of the Puente Laguna Garzón was to remodel a standard vehicular crossing into an occasion that reduces the velocity of the vehicles, to supply a possibility to get pleasure from panoramic views to a tremendous panorama, and on the identical time create a pedestrian place within the centre,” mentioned architect Rafael Viñoly.

Designers of the bridge wished to plot a option to decelerate visitors whereas additionally forcing them to look out and respect the surroundings round them. The non-traditional round design was chosen by way of years of governmental debate. The bridge has a radius of 51.5 meters bracketed by two straight sections on the entrances measuring 46 meters. This design extremely allowed for 2 lanes of visitors whereas making a lagoon within the middle that can be utilized for fishing.

Development started in late 2014 and the venture opened to the general public simply over a yr later. The complete roadway price an estimated $11 million, with $10 million coming from personal funding. Not like many architectural initiatives, this one was really wanted. Previous to the bridges development, vehicles wishing to cross between the counties of Maldonado and Rocha must individually load onto a raft and cross the water.