A newly constructed bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam has gone viral for its most visually striking element: two giant hands that seem to emerge from the surrounding mountain. The massive hands at Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) support a golden walkway 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) above sea level. Though the hands appear to be carved out of weathered stone, they are actually constructed of steel mesh and fiberglass.
The eye-catching piece of infrastructure was conceived to solve a logistics problem in the Ba Na Hills Resort, a rapidly growing tourist attraction. Prior to the bridge, considerable height differences at the mountainous resort made moving from the cable car station to the resort's garden challenging. However, a project to build a walkway wasn't feasible, as stakeholders wanted it to integrate seamlessly into the location without damaging the cliff area.
To meet these restrictions, the project team settled on a bridge and decided to focus on reducing the amount of support structures needed. Using parametric software and specialized fabrication techniques, the team designed and built branching columns that reduced the number of columns required. These were painted to blend with the forest and cliffside, and the two giant hands were then added. The resulting structure blends aesthetics and utility—and is now a tourist attraction in its own right.
PROJECT
Cau Vang (Golden Bridge)
BUDGET
Part of a US$2 billion project to promote tourism
COMPLETED
June 2018
LOCATION
Ba Na Hills, Da Nang, Vietnam
INSPIRATION FROM BELOW
The hands are meant to evoke the image of a god pulling a strip of gold out of the land.