BP Pedestrian Bridge
Illinois, United States
Freely accessible
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The BP Pedestrian Bridge is a stainless-steel girder footbridge in Chicago's Loop, spanning Columbus Drive to connect Millennium Park with Maggie Daley Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry and engineered by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it opened on July 16, 2004, as part of Millennium Park's inaugural opening. Named for BP's $5 million donation toward construction, the bridge is Gehry's first completed bridge design and is celebrated for its snakelike, curving form and biomorphic sculptural use of stainless steel plates. The 935-foot structure employs a concealed box girder design with a concrete base and hardwood decking, featuring stainless steel parapets instead of handrails. Designed to manage heavy loads without weight-induced structural issues, the bridge serves as both a noise barrier for Columbus Drive traffic and an accessible link—with a five percent slope—to the lakefront and Grant Park beyond. Though closed seasonally when ice accumulates on its wooden surface, it has won awards for its innovative use of sheet metal and received praise for its aesthetic design.
Architect
- Built
- Type
- beam bridge, footbridge
- Materials
- stainless steel
- Place
- Illinois, United States
This building on
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Location