The HafenCity is taking more and more shape and ripens to a lively and attractive district of downtown Hamburg. Today, the simultaneity of complex processes is shaping their development: Its East is still largely planning area, its Center a construction site, but the West it already becoming an urban place. With a direction of the district development from West to East the quarter “Baakenhafen” was next in line. After clearing the construction site to the underground U4, the northern development along the Versmannstraße should be undertaken immediately. The opposite attractive waterside locations on the former Africa Terminal went into construction at the same time in 2014. The “Baakenhafen bridge” was a prerequisite for this urban development and opened for traffic in summer 2013.
AECOM carried out the services for project management for the bridge. The project objective was the planning and construction of the “bridge baakenhafen West” or “Baakenhafenbrücke” according to economic and scheduling requirements. The creative demands of the bridge also had to be taken into account, due to its exposed location in the HafenCity.
The new bridge in the area of Western baakenhafen stretches in the southern extension of the planned Lohsepark. The bridge is about 170 m long and 21 m wide. In addition to a central, for the time being two-lane street, generous foot and cycle paths are on both sides.
The preparation and monitoring of the related interdisciplinary architectural competition for the construction and design of the bridge was one of the first key tasks. The bridge has been nominated for the German bridge award in the year 2014. Since August 2013, the traffic in the quarter baakenhafen is lead via the Baakenhafen bridge. Thus the Versmannstraße was closed to completely finish the underground station U4 in the HafenCity.