In April 2011, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm was approached with questions regarding a justification for Dallas' need for "signature" bridges over the Trinity River instead of the bridges that have long since bordered the city's limits."It's about creating a sense of place where people want to come to live and do business and grow," Suhm declared. Stephen Karlisch, one of our esteemed photographers, captured this sense of Dallas when he and a friend recently ventured to the bridge for an impromptu photo shoot. The result? Well, let's just say that even with a week's worth of preparation, the average person still would not be able to do the bridge justice (let alone at a moment's notice).

 

Image courtesy of Trinity River Corridor

 

Image of Calatrava sketch courtesy of Trinity River Corridor

 

 

Designed and structurally engineered by world renowned artist Santiago Calatrava, the completed Trinity Bridges will become a part of the exclusive family of awe-inspiring structures Calatrava has already constructed throughout his career located in countries like Italy, Ireland, Spain, Argentina, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Greece, England, and Portugal. According to TrinityRiverCorridor.com, the proposed 1,870-foot structure includes six lanes to alleviate traffic, and the “signature” portion of the bridge will be 1,200-feet in length. The colossal structure will have no problem standing tall as it will be anchored by cables attached to a 400-foot central transverse arch. Estimated to cost a total of $115 million, the project was made possible by funds from federal and state agencies, private donations, and the Trinity River Corridor Project bond funds, which were approved by voters in 1998.

 

Acting Mayor Mary Poss proclaimed, “This bridge will become an important landmark that will attract millions of visitors and residents to the Trinity River corridor,” and if you don’t believe her, please scroll down and look at Stephen’s pictures. They not only depict the bridges’ beauty and utility; the images depict exactly what Calatrava had envisioned when he began designing the project years ago: a big ol’ honkin' sense of Dallas, Texas. View the project's plan in its entirety.

 

Karlisch Photography

 

Karlisch Photography