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2.4 The “Iron River” issue
A wide railroad bed always marks a rift in the fabric of a city, an obstacle difficult
to bridge. The wide railroad installation is and will always be a barrier, marking the
border between Leuven and Kessel-Lo.
Marcel Smets uses the metaphor “iron river” for this open space in the urban
fabric. Just like a river, the railway bed has two banks and bridges and tunnels
give access from one side to the other. Whatever the approach, the railway tracks
developed in the 19th century are a fixed divisionwhich is permanently experienced
on a physical level. The Leuven banks will remain peripheral areas even with two
new links installed above the tracks. It is almost impossible to transform these
peripheral areas into central locations within the urban fabric; the actual border
remains an unalterable fact in the search of solutions.
The new footbridge between Kessel-Lo and Leuven was already being considered
when the plans for Provinciehuis were drawn up. Originally, the footbridge -
a design by Philippe Samyn and Partners - would lead to the square in front of
Provinciehuis.
Philippe Samyn’s concept presented a cable bridge structure with high pylons and a
free clearance of 140 metres. Both Philippe Samyn and the Provinciehuis architects
realized that these high pylons would come too near to the Provinciehuis building.
Another problem also arose: the original site for the footbridge was poorly situated
on the Kessel-Lo side; it ended behind the existing buildings. Ultimately, it was
decided that the bridge would be moved towards the station. To make the bridge
as slender and elegant as possible its horizontal part would consist of a tubular
structure composed of sections where their dimensions would not exceed 10 cm x
10 cm, a technical achievement quite exceptional in itself.7 (fig. 7)
fg. 7