The city of Franklin, Tenn., is long-known for its vibrant, nature-complementary streetscapes that play host to crowded festivals and parades every year. Many of its bridges incorporate shared aesthetic features that allow them to meld fluidly into their surrounding green spaces--a unique challenge for a team of Alfred Benesch & Company engineers selected to design and build an access road and bridge as part of a new park development in Franklin.
Project manager Nitaya Chayangkura, who, alongside her colleague Katie Lewis, was recently awarded an AISC Award of Distinction for her work on the Southeast Park Access Road and Bridge project, recalled that city officials had very specific requirements for the bridge’s aesthetics, with a particular focus on the shape and railings--it needed to draw visual interest. “That’s where steel design came in,” Chayangkura said.
“To my understanding--from a structures viewpoint--the city of Franklin has kind of a similar bridge and other ‘character’ bridges in nearby areas with these unique aesthetics,” she said. “This one had a few different challenges: It’s over the Harpeth River, so it needed to have this generous span.”
Chayangkura grew up in nearby Nashville, which she noted has not historically been a very pedestrian-friendly or bicycle-friendly city. Franklin’s Southeast Park project stood out to her as an effort to prioritize the implementation of multi-modal pathways in an area that has seen a demand for them. In Nashville, she said, she has watched things improve slowly over the years, as more people have asked for better bikeway and sidewalk infrastructure.
“This park will be something residents can enjoy and use,” Chayangkura said. “Families will be able to walk along and appreciate the river, the pathway, and the park, and eventually appreciate the structure in its natural, beautiful setting of Williamson County.”
Chayangkura’s contribution to the Southeast Park project was only one part of what made her stand out as an Award of Distinction candidate. Her service as a role model to rising engineers has also caught the attention of structural steel industry professionals.
“I feel like today’s young engineers run circles around [my generation] when we were younger,” Chayangkura said. “They are really brave and taking chances--they’re not afraid to get out there and be challenged. [I hope they continue] to see every project as an opportunity to collaborate with other engineers and work together toward a common goal.”