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Oct. 2, 2010, marked the official opening of a striking new landmark for the San Francisco Bay area — the Robert I. Schroder Overcrossing on Treat Boulevard in Contra Costa County. Forming the centerpiece of the new sustainable Contra Costa Transit Village around the Pleasant Hill BART station, the $6.8 million pedestrian and bicycle bridge was designed by the San Francisco office of global engineering and consulting firm Arup.

Arup was the prime consultant for the more than 800-foot-long bridge with a main span of 245 feet, and provided structural, civil, and geotechnical engineering, as well as lighting design services for the project. Sponsored by the Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency, it will be an important safety improvement for pedestrians and bicyclists who use the 33-mile Iron Horse Trail. Arup’s subconsultants included Donald MacDonald Architects and David Evans and Phil Singer Landscape Architects.

Because of the tight constraints of the site, including many utilities and the desire to preserve the established oak trees along Del Hombre Lane, the project presented significant challenges throughout the design and construction process. The design had to accommodate the physical constraints and multiple utility and transit easements existing in the corridor. Arup developed a design that resolved these constraints while creating a visually striking bridge based on the well-known principle of the arch structure.

Arup originally designed four options for the pedestrian and bicycle bridge, with a short-list of three voted on by the local community in 2003 via an Internet preference survey.

To see time-lapse footage of the project, click here. For more information, visit www.arup.com.