Building a Bridge Out of Wind: BIG PIC

By David Teeghman

Feb. 11, 2011 -- If it's going to be possible to get all of our energy from renewable sources by 2030, we're going to need to get creative about where we put those solar panels and wind turbines. You have to give the designers of the "Solar Wind" bridge kudos for creativity then, as they have proposed a bridge that can generate enough renewable energy to power 115,000 homes.

The Solar Wind bridge would capture wind energy through wind turbines integrated into the spaces between the bridge’s pillars, and generate solar energy through a grid of solar cells embedded in the road surface.

According to Gizmag, the bridge is the work of Italian designers Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino. Their concept was designed for the Solar Park Works–Solar Highway competition in which entrants had to modernize sections of a decommissioned elevated highway stretching between Bagnera and Scilla in Italy.

The elevated bridge will be several hundred feet off the ground, which isn't exactly as high as some airborne wind turbines can go, it's still a good height for generating wind energy from the crosswinds.

From the sketches, it looks like the wind turbines that would be part of the Solar Wind bridge are pretty similar to lens turbines that are 360 feet across and work like a magnifying glass.

Wind turbines may increase cop growth, but the bad news for drivers is that they probably won't have any effect on how fast traffic moves across the bridge.

But the wind energy capabilities of the Solar Wind bridge is just half of the clean energy equation. The black asphalt for the roadway would be replaced with a dense grid of solar cells coated with a transparent and plastic coating sturdy enough to support almost any-sized vehicle.

The design won second place in the competition, so this design has real potential. Let's hope someone sees the concept and makes it into a reality.

Images: Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino