Gorsa bridge, Sabetjohk

GORSA BRIDGE, SABETJOHK

The County of Kåfjord took the initiative, in connection with an increased focus on tourism, to set up a new pedestrian bridge over the Gorsa canyon (Northern Europe’s deepest canyon) where the rivers Guolasjohka and Magerelva meet in a spectacular waterfall. The bridge completes the hiking-paths that take visitors around the remains of an old mining site; this new structure performs as a panoramic viewing deck and bungee-jump base point.

Status:

Completed 2011

Client:

Kåfjord Municipality

Project group:

Bitschau Gmbh, Dipl-ing- Florian Kosche, Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter

Location:

Kåfjord, Norway

Plan/size:

3800 kg

Consultants:

RIB Florian Kosche

Typology:

Tourism, infrastructure

Photography:

Leo Thomas, Daniel Taipale, Ørjan Bertelsen, Jan R. Olsen,

Florian Kosche, Ghilardi+Hellsten

The design-build conditions such as the site complex accessibility, limited building budget, fast-track schedule and unstable weather conditions, gave little or no tolerance for mistake or correction due to unforeseen variables during the process. In fact, such a process was never attempted before, and it almost failed completely in its most critical moment: the helicopter lift.

The 150m deep and narrow canyon makes it an incredible place for bungee jumping, an activity carried out already on the opening day.

ghilardi_hellsten_sabetjohk_bridge_13.jp

The main structure was engineered in light weight aluminum pipes to be assembled in one piece, on flat ground, some kilometers away from the actual site; then transported and placed over the waterfall airborne. This process imposed a maximum 4 tons weight limit for the 53m span The bridge was realized with a unique collaboration between engineer, contractor and architect from start to end.