News Archive
Exotic and sustainable
Released on 20/03/2008
Next month sees the official opening of Southeast Asia’s longest and highest pedestrian bridge, built in Singapore using Yellow Balau timber certified as originating from a legal source.
Three hundred metres long and 40m high, the Henderson Bridge was commissioned by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority to link Mount Faber to Telok Blangah Hill giving people more access to a 9km chain of hills.
It was designed by George Legendre of IJP, based in the UK. The timber was supplied and installed by Singapore-based Venturer, which used high-grade Yellow Balau, sourced by Certisource using chain of custody auditing techniques.
Venturer managing director Kevin Hill said: “Our involvement began at the early design phase, conceiving the timber details and specifications, through to a combination of modular fabrication and painstaking installation work.”
He said there are nearly 2000 modular panels making up the deck with hundreds of different types, each varying by a single degree every 10m.
That makes the 34 degree curve giving the illusion of curved deck boards.
He said there is not a single visible fixing on the entire sculpted timber surface, including the rear of both railing and backrest.
“Over the main road, we rely on a floating batten system to prevent accidental coin drop, one of a number of innovative ideas developed by us to realise the best from George’s design intent.”
The project was built from 2006-08 in collaboration with RSP Architects Planners & Engineers (Pte) Ltd, Singapore.
(EDITOR"S NOTE: An earlier version of this story said that Certisource used its DNA-tracking technique to establish the legal origins of the Yellow Balau timber. We have since been informed that Yellow Balau is still undergoing it's pilot phase to identify appropriate individual DNA markers. It is normal for Certisource to Pilot Study a specie from six months to a year before the DNA is relied upon as sufficient evidence for certification.)
