The bridge spans over the TGV railroad tracks in the city of La Roche-sur-Yon, connecting the historic center (built according to the classicist plan of the early 19th century) and new districts.
The new structure marks the arrival of the high-speed rail to the Atlantic coast of France, which the city authorities considered sufficient reason for the reconstruction of the infrastructure. According to the architect, this bridge is a vector of pedestrian and urban planning movement, an important sign of urban ties. The bright red color is intended to emphasize its "signal" function.
The bridge design is based on a diagonal lattice that forms a cylindrical volume. This solution combines the high fences and overlap necessary for the bridge across the railway tracks (transparent plastic panels protect the bridge from the weather on top). The structure also expresses in geometric shapes the tensile and compressive forces to which the individual parts of the 67-meter structure are subjected (for example, the frequency of the trusses forming the lattice varies from more to less dense).
Visually, Chumi's construction resembles the design of the Santiago Calatrava pedestrian bridge for Calgary, but the version of the latter has not a circle, but an ellipse in section; also the lattice of the Canadian bridge structure will have the same mesh size everywhere.
