The BP Pedestrian Bridge is a girder footbridge in the Loop community
area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to
connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park, both parts of
the larger Grant Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect
Frank Gehry, it opened along with the rest of Millennium Park on July
16, 2004. Gehry had been courted by the city to design the bridge and
the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and eventually agreed to do so
after the Pritzker family funded the Pavilion. Named for energy firm
BP, which donated $5 million toward its construction, it is the first
Gehry-designed bridge to have been completed. BP Bridge is described as
snakelike because of its curving form. Designed to bear a heavy load
without structural problems caused by its own weight, it has won awards
for its use of sheet metal. The bridge is known for its aesthetics, and
Gehry's style is seen in its biomorphic allusions and extensive
sculptural use of stainless steel plates to express abstraction. The
pedestrian bridge serves as a noise barrier for traffic sounds from
Columbus Drive. It is a connecting link between Millennium Park and
destinations to the east, such as the nearby lakefront, other parts of
Grant Park and a parking garage. It is designed without handrails,
using stainless steel parapets instead. The total length is 935 feet
(285 m), with a five percent slope on its inclined surfaces that makes
it barrier free and accessible to all. Although the bridge closes in
winter because ice cannot be safely removed from its wooden walkway, it
has received favorable reviews for its design and aesthetics.