THE G LO BE AND M A I I
S A TU R D A Y ]A , N U A R Y 29, 2071
A safepassage
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LISAROCHON CITY SPAGE lrochon@globeandma il.com esignersusually designfor humans. Designingfor the sakeof animals - whether ferrets, elk or deer - and allowing them safeand poetic accessto their habitats may sound unusual,but it is an urgent, lifesaving enterpflse. The challengeof keepingwild-life awayfrom deadly collisions with carsinspired the ARC(for Animal RoadCrossing)international designcompetition, which last year invited dozensoflandscapearchitectsto imagine animal-friendly, and eye-catching, bridgesto crossover highways. The competition's winner was announcedin Washinstonearlier this week: A New York-Citvpartnership of designersMWA;led by acclaimedlandscapearchitectMichael Van Valkenburgh, and architectural builders HNTBhas envisioneda crossingthat merges seamlesslywith the surrounding landscape,offering safepassage over the heavily travelled Interstate70 at a high elevation near Vail, Colo.Shroudedin heaw landscape,the ultrawide croesing appearsto be more natural land than man-madeinfrastructure. Besidesbeing visually alluring, esflmates suggestit can be built-for roughly half the current cost of the wildlife overpasses.that dominate in BanffNational Park. ' It's a pleasureto notice wildlife in our rear-viewmirror whenwe travel into the country. There's something picturesqueand romantic about watchin g deergr aze or elk lift their massiveheadsas we speedpast.But when anirnals wander blindly onto highway5, the resultscan be devastating. There'sthe sad,ugly loss of life, of course.But there'salso a more literal price tag.In the United States,the cost is estimatedat g8billion (U.S.)a year in insurance claims and car repairs.In Canada, damagesare peggedat about
$259-millionannually,according to the WesternTransportationInstitute at Montana StateUniversity. Wildlife crossingsfirst appeared in Europein the rg5os.Sincethe late seventies,Banff National Parkhas been at the vaneuardof shepherdinganimals safEly acrossvast territories. Scientist Tony Clevenger,one ofthe ARC competition jurors, has reported that the purpose-builtcroisings common in Banffhave, over the past z5years,allowed safepassageto some 24o,ooolarge mammals, including elk, black and grizzly bears,deer,mountain lion, moose and coyote.Entire families of wild animals travel along the protective fencing and over the man-madestructures;young animals learn howto reseftheiimigratory patterns accordingly within three yearsof birth. The problem in Banff - both in terms of cost and aesthetics- is that the crossingsare overengineeredand overbuilt. "They're strong enough to carry the load of five super dumpsters,not three elk and a moose,"saysToronto ecologistand planner Nina-Marie Lister,the ARCcompetition's professionaladviserani an associate professorat RyersonUniversity. Elsewhereat Banff,there are rudimentary metal culvertsor prefabricated concreteboxesinserted underneath roads.They are narrow and dark; eleganceand lightnessof designnever played a role. The ARCfinalists,short-listed from 36 submissionsfrom nine countries,are invitations for animals to weavetheirwav over a landscapelocatedr5o kilometres west of Denverand next to massive ski chaletsand high-profile resorts.Why similarly inventive bridgeshaven't been built in Canada "is a mystery" saysLister."We knowthat theywork, we know that there's a need for them. We also knowthat the cost of not having them is incredibly high, and it's compoundedyear after year." Oneof the most compelling of the finalists was a bright red bridge made of sustainable,lightweight,wood-corefibreglass,proposedby Toronto-basedIanet Rosenberg+ Associateswith. BlackwellBowick Partnership.
T H E G LO B E A ND MAIL
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roadways acrosstreacherous Throush site research,the Rosenbers te;amdiscoveredthat animals rvpically stoppedin thickets locatedback from the highwaY. The tearir'sinterviewwith Ternple Grandin,an animal scientistat ColoradoStateUniversitY(and the subiect of a recent high-Profile bioiic starring ClaireDanes), helped-themunderstandthat an animal's world is highlY sensorydefined bv vision, sound, touch and smell-,and that theYPreferto move in curves.The roar of traffic often stopsanimals in their tracks; biight llgtrts and shrill soundscausefear. To encourageanimals across the road, Rosenberg'steam extended three meanderinglandscapedramps into the forest.The choiceof bright red was intended to instantlY communicate"wildlife crossing"to drivers.And the colour doesn'tbother animals: Thev perceivered as greY. the schemebY BalmoriAssociatesof New York ProPoseda continuous beam without anYjoints' the monolith constructedof laminated wood from treeskilled bY firm beetles.PhiladelPhia-based The Olin Studio designedthe most exuberant scheme,fu sing mesh.plastic and concreteto allow fof sectionsof its diagrid bridge to aPParentlYlift a section of th*etandsiape offthe ground. Zwarts &Jansma,of Amsterdam, slipped lanesfor carsand bikes underneath a bridge that appears to curve its suPerthin structure down to the ground. HNTB + MWA's winning design looks more like an underPass than a bridge. ReflectivePaint, rather than artificial lighting' provides illumination for carstravellinq underneath.It's also about forir times aswide as crossingsat Banff.Herdsof animals will be easilv accommodated. ihe lnC comPetition was sPonsoredbv a PartnershiPof universities.privite foundations and orsanizations.The U.S.DePartmEnt of TransPortationhas sisned a memorandum of undersiandins to build the winning desien at Vail.Other funding maY cime from PresidentBarackObama's multibillion Plannedinfrastructure Program. There'sPlentYofPotential to render anYofthe short-listedde-
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siensinto realitYacrossthe bordJr. ParksCanadahas exPressedinErest in meeting with all five fi natiststo helP in the design-of new wildlife crossingsover keY sectionsof the Trans-Canada Hiehwav through the Rockies' fhat liind of investment is consideration;the *;;ii' ;;i;; sovernment of Newfoundland ind Labradorhas recentlYbeen servedwith a class-actionsuit bY atiu"tt involved in moose-vehicle collisions.The ARCcomPetition oushesus to think about the Pow'erof architectureto offset the invasion ofroads into ePic - infrastructure- g.ently i*ai.up"t aliened'with nature, something thit benefits humans and their
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of allfivefinal' Seethesubmissions istsat www.arc-competition'com'
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