Juscelino Kubitschek bridge, Road bridge in Brasilia, Brazil
The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge is a road crossing over Lake Paranoa in Brasilia with three asymmetrical steel arches that reach 62 meters at their highest point. The structure extends 1200 meters and connects two lakefront shores through a concrete deck held by radial steel cables.
The Brazilian Federal District government approved construction in 1991 based on a design by architect Alexandre Chan and engineer Mario Vila Verde. The crossing opened to traffic in December 2002 and received the following year an award from the Brazilian steel construction association Abcem.
The name honors the Brazilian president who founded the new capital in the late 1950s and shaped its modernist architecture. Locals today use the pedestrian paths especially on weekends for walks with views across the lake and surrounding neighborhoods.
The crossing features six traffic lanes divided across both directions plus separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists on a total width of 24 meters. The best time to visit is early morning or late afternoon when light brings out the steel construction and water especially well.
The bridge rests on four supports whose pillars stand submerged in Lake Paranoá, so the deck is not unsupported over the water. Its three 240-metre spans are carried by asymmetrical arches set in different planes, a layout the architect Alexandre Chan said was inspired by a stone skipping across the water's surface.
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