Brain truss

Mark Zurolo ’01MFA

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The walk between central campus and Science Hill just got a little nicer. Last semester, two new pedestrian bridges over the Farmington Canal Greenway were installed on either side of Hillhouse Avenue. The little bridges were designed by the firms of architect Cesar Pelli and engineer Guy Nordenson, which is a bit like hiring Stephen Sondheim to compose your ring tone. Their solution was a contemporary twist on a nineteenth-century design called a “lattice-truss” bridge, in which the railings are also the trusses that support the bridge. (Satisfyingly, the lattice truss was patented by New Haven architect Ithiel Town, who once lived on Hillhouse.) The undulating steel lattice is denser in the center, where the deflection is greatest—a teachable moment for engineering students in the surrounding buildings.