Thursday, January 1, 2009

Brazil - Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge


 

Stamp Issue : 2007-04-21 

Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Juscelino Kubitschek), also known as the President JK Bridge or just the JK Bridge, crosses Lake Paranoá in Brasília, D.F. It is named for Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, former president of Brazil, who in the late 1950s decided to build Brasília as the new capital of the country. It was designed by architect Alexandre Chan and structural engineer Mário Vila Verde.
The main span structure has four supporting pillars submerged under Lake Paranoá, and the deck weight is supported by three 200-foot tall asymmetrical steel arches that crisscross diagonally. The decks are suspended by steel cables alternating at each side of the deck, interlacing in some kind of twisted plane (parabolic like). The entire structure has a total length of 1,200 m, and it was completed at a cost of US$56.8 million. The bridge has a pedestrian walkway and is accessible to bicyclists and skaters.

 


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