Bike rides are always a joy, especially when you can pedal through nature. The project Cycling Through The Trees aims to elevate that joy even higher – literally.
This canopy-teasing project is the work of BuroLandschap and De Gregorio & Partners.
https://www.facebook.com/BelgiuminDenmark/posts/2295566853830644
Fun and non-impactful to the surrounding nature was the goal, and it looks like they nailed it.
Cycling Through the Trees is a bicycle path built on an elevated structure 10 meters off the ground. It puts cyclists right next to the treetops, so they can get up close to trees like never before. Sign me up!
https://www.facebook.com/ArchDaily/photos/a.10163092391065603/10163092403030603/
Boasting dimensions of 100 meters in diameter and a total length of 700 meters, it’s just as big as any bicycle course you’re used to. Except those bicycle courses didn’t let you ride past the peaks of 30 foot tall trees, so it’s clear which one’s cooler here.
With sustainable tourism as a top priority during design and construction, Cycling Through The Trees was an experiment as much as a project.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFoTNB-sSEP/
The designers and builders made absolutely sure to leave as much of the surround forest untouched, and only fell the trees if it was unavoidable.
Rather than set up several cranes to assemble this marvel of engineering, they used a single crane right in the center and built it in a circle.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEeF4FppTZC/
Imagine sitting down and building a model train course, or a LEGO castle around you in a circle without moving from your spot. That’s basically how it worked.
And to keep with the theme of sustainable, non-impactful construction, the weathering steel columns don’t use any concrete. They’re all done with screw-pile foundations.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_CLKGsKjrh/
With the whole experience centered around seeing the trees, it would have been counterintuitive to fell said trees just to build this.
Pieter Daenen, founder of BuroLandschap, sounded quite proud of what they accomplished. The final product weaves through the trees and gets as close to them as possible, without colliding with them or making felling necessary. Now that’s engineering!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8esK99I310/
“The trees were of course very important. After all, cycling through the trees would no longer make sense if trees were damaged or destroyed after the construction of the structure…
..Something that is not easy for a construction with a diameter of more than 100 meters and a height of 10 meters.” – Pieter Daenen
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0jLHdxoIsR/
Now, anyone who comes to Hechtel-Eksel for a bike ride is going to have an experience they’ll never forget. I wonder, does it feel like riding a speeder bike through Endor’s Forest moon?
Daenen was quite happy with how they made it blend into the forest.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByxGYUkig1Y/
“Brown is the colour of the earth, after ‘green’ this is the most common colour in nature. Brown always blends well in an environment,” he mentions.
“The poles are like tree trunks, you have to get quite close to see the construction in its surroundings. From 100 meters away you can hardly see the construction.”
And it’s those surroundings that this project is aiming to bring more people to. Bosland is the largest continuous forest in Flanders, Belgium.
https://twitter.com/herbert_tiemens/status/1279397878641950720
Though despite that impressive title for a forest, not many people seem to know about it or hold it in appropriate esteem.
With a spectacular bicycle course like this, that could very well change. Not many people can say they’ve ridden a bike 10 meters above the ground and seen the tops of the forest.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFL2kdHsBYZ/
An experience like that sounds like a worthy alternative to an amusement park or theater trip. Even looking at the Cycling Through the Trees course is quite an experience, and BuroLandschap and DeGregorio & partners deserve all the credit and praise for making it possible.
Wow! Cycling through the Trees has won the Dezeen Award 2020 'Infrastructure project of the year' #fddb #altijdlimburg #dezeenawards2020 https://t.co/sT7Fkypq2H pic.twitter.com/EelSwgIY6h
— Ward Segers (@wardbach) November 24, 2020
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