The Pedestrians

The senior engineering design projects at Calvin College tend to encourage ambitious thinking, and among this year's crop of senior projects is a concept that would take $4 million and 350 tons of steel to realize: It's an automated, retractable pedestrian bridge designed to span the St. Joseph River channel in St. Joseph, Michigan.

The bridge, or at least a scale model of it, was produced by senior design team number 13, "The Pedestrians," whose members are Craig Baker, 21, a mechanical engineer from Strathroy, Ontario; LeAnne Bock, 22, a civil and mechanical engineer from Almont, Michigan; Melanie Haagsma, 22, a civil engineer from Grand Rapids; and Abby Stemler, 21, a civil engineer from Elk River, Minnesota.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Calvin
• St.
• Joseph's
• River
• engineering

[PedAdvocate]

Having experts in different fields collaborate in the design often gives a better result. You can draw on the strengths of everyone in the group.

[satoori]

Architects may design the bridge (shape, style, size etc) but civil engineers would design the structural elements such as foundations, beams, columns, earthworks etc.

[alanhowitzer]

So the landscape architect should design the bridge because it's for pedestrians?

[swedeboy1]

Engineers don't do pedestrian design. Leave that to the landscape architects.