Dolní Morava, Czech Republic
With a length of 721 meters and 95 meters above the ground, Sky Bridge 721, designed by TAROS NOVA a.s. for the Horský resort in Dolní Morava, is the longest suspension footbridge in the world.
The suspension bridge is located just a few meters from the Sky Walk and spans the valley of the Mlýnský Potok from the Slamník mountain ridge to the Chlum ridge.
One can get on it at an altitude of 1,125 meters above sea level and get off at 1,135 meters above sea level.
After crossing the valley on the other side of the bridge, all visitors have a unique opportunity to get to know the local nature and history.
Aptly titled Sky Bridge 721, this was a very challenging project for Taros Nova in terms of design coordination, production, and the construction itself.
The architects have designed more than 100 bridge variants proceeding to countless structural analyses and calculations.
The main suspension ropes FLC 76 (Fully Locked Coil) with a length of 698.6 m are anchored to steel pylons on opposite sides of the valley. The footbridge is secured against the wind along its entire length by a system of ropes anchored to the concrete footings on the slope below the bridge.
The bridge deck consists of the bridge sections with a length of 3.0 m and a width of 1.2 m, consisting of untypical longitudinal members, between which anti-slip gratings are welded.
The main wind ropes FLC 56 are connected to a special tensioning pulley device with a weight of about 4 t, which ensures the tensioning of the wind ropes where the tension decreases due to temperature changes and accidental loads.
To find the most suitable conceptual solution for the footbridge construction, a 3D member model was created in RFEM 5.
A total of 16 variants of calculation models were created, which differed in the number of the main supporting roles, the sag, and the design of the securing wind ropes.
Furthermore, several partial models of the structural parts were created, which were mostly modeled by using planar elements.
The partial models were mainly used for the detailed design of steel pylon and structural joints.
For the calculation of the footbridge, the constant, prestress, snow, and wind loads were taken into account.
The nonlinear calculation was performed according to the large deformation analysis.
Sky Bridge 721 gives visitors a feeling they cannot experience anywhere else.
Therefore, in cooperation with the LESY ČR (Forests of the Czech Republic), the municipality of Dolní Morava, and the Museum of Czechoslovak Fortifications from 1935-to 38, an original and educational trail “Bridge of Time” with augmented reality elements was created.
The uniquely designed game with 10 educational panels touches on the topics of nature protection and especially movement in it, history and life story of a particular family from Dolní Morava against the background of the events of our republic from 1935 to the present.
An integral part of the game is the light fortification object at the beginning of the game, the so-called digger “řopík,” from which you continue along a 2 km long marked route with educational panels. In order to complete the game, it is necessary to own a now common smartphone and have access to the internet.
Educational panels with tasks are arranged thematically and in time so that after nearly an hour’s easy walk along the marked trails, each visitor is brought back to the present. That is, to the starting point at the Slaměnka hut.
Project: Sky Bridge 721
Architects: TAROS NOVA a.s
Managing Director, Team And Project Management: Radek Ondruch
Production Manager, Production And Construction Management: Aleš Gebauer
Chief Design Engineer, Design And Structural Engineering Management: Václav Röder
Senior Structural Engineer, Structural Engineering And Statics: Ondřej Orság
Design Engineer, Design Works : Jiří Kozák
Clients: Horský Resort Dolní Morava
Investor: SNĚŽNÍK, a.s.
Photographers: Denis Pagáč
