The bridge will be decommissioned in 2014 and its replacement is under construction. Washington State Department of Transportation is requiring of the new bridge's design-build team that it be reused or recycled in a sustainable fashion.
“Current trends for the reuse of pontoons have been floating docks, breakwaters and piers, but what else could be done with such a feat of engineering?” the competition announcement said.
The Transforming Seattle's 520 Floating Bridge 2012 international design ideas competition seeks design proposals which either use the bridge in its current state or take the bridge apart and reuse its pontoons at a new site on Lake Washington, Lake Union or in the Puget Sound in Washington State.
“What is a floating bridge when its function is no longer needed?” said the organisers. “What can designers do when faced with the design problem of reusing thirty-three floating concrete pontoons?”
Details at www.rethinkreuse.org
