Nobody has gone from state to state and province to province to count all the pedestrian bridges in North America, and no research teams have analyzed official data and pored over satellite images to figure out how many structures have been built to help pedestrians cross streams, roads, railroad tracks and natural obstacles.
Experts would only take on such a monumental task if it could lead to a breakthrough or help them solve a thorny problem, which counting pedestrian bridges probably would not.
This means studies of this type in North America tend to focus on road bridges that are much easier to count and keep track of. However, knowing how many bridges have been built to transport motor vehicles can help us to estimate how many pedestrian bridges there are.
Road and Pedestrian Bridges
Pedestrian bridges are far less expensive than road bridges and can be built far more quickly. Plus, they can be found in places cars could never reach. If all the pedestrian bridges on hiking trails, in city parks and crossing major roads in North American towns and cities were counted, the figure would likely dwarf the number of road bridges.
With that in mind, let’s look at the numbers we actually have. In 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers released an Infrastructure Report Card that put the number of road bridges in the United States at 614,387.
This figure was based on data provided by the Department of Transportation. There are probably another 300,000 or so road bridges in Mexico and Canada, which would make the total number of road bridges in North American close to one million.
That is a lot of road bridges, and the number of pedestrian bridges in North America is likely much, much higher. A few hefty logs rolled into place could help hikers cross a stream on a remote mountain trail, but combing through the wilderness areas of every state, territory, and province to find these would be an impossible task. Instead, we should concentrate on bridges that have been planned and built by professionals. This leaves us with four basic types of pedestrian bridges.
Suspension Bridges
Suspension bridges are pretty to look at but expensive to build. They are generally constructed in remote locations where more conventional approaches, like truss or beam construction, are impractical. The big advantage suspension bridges have over other types of pedestrian walkways is their ability to span long distances.
In April 2021, a pedestrian suspension bridge was opened in Portugal that local officials say is the longest in the world. It stretches across the River Paiva and is 1,700 feet long and 575 feet high.
Bridges like this attract a lot of media attention, but they are quite rare. In North America, they number in the thousands but not the hundreds of thousands.
Arch Bridges
Arches were used to support pedestrian bridges before the introduction of more suitable building materials like engineered wood and steel. Arch bridges can be used to safely cross spans of between 20 and 50 feet, but they are rarely built today because of the costs involved. This kind of pedestrian bridge can add a decorative touch to parks or gardens, but towns and cities are not likely to build them to cross highways or railroad tracks.
Beam Bridges
Beam construction is the preferred approach for pedestrian bridges with spans of 40 feet or less. An abutment is built at each end of the bridge, and then wood or steel is placed beneath the walkway. Railings are not a structural element on beam bridges, so engineers are free to explore more avant-garde designs.
Beam bridges can usually be built for less than truss bridges, but longer spans can increase costs significantly. A slightly higher elevation is needed for beam bridges because their structural beams are placed underneath the deck, but they still account for the vast majority of short pedestrian bridges in North America.
Truss Bridges
If you find a pedestrian bridge in North America that is not a beam design, there is a very good chance that it was built using a truss. Pedestrian bridges between 30 to 200 feet are usually built in this way because truss designs are extremely efficient and can be built in a variety of widths.
Building truss bridges in remote areas was once a formidable job because galvanized or weathered steel is very heavy, but fiberglass components are now available that weigh significantly less. Most of the longer pedestrian bridges in North America are truss designs.
However, the longest pedestrian bridge on the continent is the SkyBridge cable bridge in Gatlinburg, TN. This feat of modern engineering, is suspended 500 feet above the city, spans 700 feet and is 1800 feet above sea level.
A Shifting Landscape
Counting all the pedestrian bridges in North America would only provide a snapshot of a shifting landscape because new bridges are being opened all the time and old bridges deemed no longer safe are being removed.
There are well over a million pedestrian bridges in North America that have been built using beam and truss techniques, and duckboard, culvert and covered bridges are also fairly common. One thing the experts do seem to agree on is that this number will grow in the years ahead.
If you are thinking of having a pedestrian bridge built, its length and location will determine the best approach. The bridge solutions company you ask to help you make this decision should be willing to work from your concept if a turnkey solution is not appropriate. In addition, they should have decades of experience helping municipalities, developers, design firms and property owners achieve their goals.
To learn more about pedestrian bridge types and materials, and which options are best used for different locations, take a look at our helpful guide.
Simplifying the Process
Axcess simplifies the process by combining everything needed to make intelligent decisions in one place. Our designers will work with you to find a solution that fits your budget and meets your needs, and our engineers have years of bridge assembly and installation experience. If you are ready to span the gap and would like to ask us a few questions, you can fill out our contact form or call us at (937) 907-0069.
