The organizers of the competition, the Woodcock Foundation and the University of Montana Western Transportation Institute, have drawn the public and architects' attention to the growing number of car collisions with wild animals on the roads of North America - in the past 15 years alone, it has increased by 50%. On the other hand, highways scare animals, and they try to stay away from them: as a result, insurmountable barriers arise in the middle of the traditional habitats of certain species, populations are divided, which leads to less genetic diversity, and, as a result, less resistance to mutations, diseases and so on.
The participants were asked to develop a project for a crossing for a specific location - the Vail Pass in the Rocky Mountains, which crosses the federal highway I-70. This is Colorado's busiest circuit, which is why it is called the "Berlin Wall" for animals. At the same time, all projects must be adaptable in order to be used as prototypes anywhere in the world. It is important to note that the state does not guarantee the implementation of this project: Colorado officials said that the state has even more "relevant" places to install transitions, but promised to pay attention to the ideas of the winner and finalists of the competition when developing new transition options.
The organizers of the competition probably understood the pragmatism and even stinginess that is characteristic of any government, therefore, in their statements they emphasized the benefits of constructing bridge crossings: according to their data, collisions between cars and animals cost US taxpayers $ 8 billion annually. On the other hand, the passage to Vale Pass alone will help to earn significant funds due to the possible increase in the number of animals that can be hunted (!) Or observed during hiking trips.
First place winner Michael Van Valkenberg and engineering firm HNTB proposed a 55-meter single-span bridge made of precast lightweight concrete panels: this solution would allow it to be erected without completely blocking a six-lane highway with a cycle path and space for the proposed track; the use of popular and cheap materials and modularity will also facilitate the task. A landscape close to the natural landscape will be created on the passageway: moose and coyotes will cross it along a strip of meadows, lynxes and bears - through bushes, deer and marmots - among the trees. The highway on both sides of the bridge will be fenced off for miles so that animals can use the crossing rather than trying to cross the road in the "wrong place."
The finalists of the competition also presented very original versions. Diana Balmory proposed to build a transition from trees that died from bugs: such wood does not rot, therefore it does not release CO2 into the environment (and is safer than concrete: after all, CO2 is released during its manufacture).
Janet Rosenberg and Associates proposed to paint the transition in red: this way it will attract the attention of motorists and make them be more careful, and will not scare animals away, since most of them do not distinguish colors.
The structure of the transition of the Dutch architects Zwarts & Jansma is a combination of three bends of different contour, which will make the canvas thinner, as well as formally link it with the surrounding landscape.
Lori Olin's workshop has developed a variant suitable for different areas thanks to a typical solution: the construction uses a concrete lattice as a base and an "ecosystem module" located on it - types and types of vegetation characteristic of a particular region.
Each of the finalists received $ 15,000 and the winners received $ 40,000.
