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At ArcelorMittal Europe, we offer a full range of products, solutions, and services for footbridge designers and contractors:
- High strength steels - used to design and erect light structures that are more resistant, more economical, and have a reduced environmental impact.
- Enhanced weldable steels - in order to ensure robustness and long-life durability, whatever the local conditions may be.
- Weathering steels - requiring less maintenance along the complete life cycle and giving structures a very innovative appearance.
- Sheet piles and reinforcement bars - for foundations and piles.
- Prefabricated solutions, including curved girders - delivered on site to reduce erection time and avoid traffic disruption.
All of the above capabilities have been recognised and valued by our customers, and we are proud to have contributed to some of the most recently erected landmark footbridges in Europe.
Related news & technical articles
ArcelorMittal tubes in the longest treetop path in the world
19 May 2022ArcelorMittal Europe – Tubular Products supplied tubes for the 'Senda dil Dragun', the longest treetop path in the world, located in Laax, Switzerland, offering an interactive and unique nature experience for all visitors.
Project newsMatière uses high strength ArcelorMittal steels to provide vital bridges in remote areas
5 May 2020The French company Matière first introduced its Unibridge® concept in 2004. Today these patented structures are shipped around the world where they are used as permanent or temporary crossings for vehicles and pedestrians. Thanks to their modular nature and ease of construction, the Unibridge® is particularly popular in remote regions where materials and skilled workers are hard to find. The solution uses ArcelorMittal’s S355K2+N and S460M high strength steel plates which are known for their durability, giving the Unibridge® a 100-year design life.
Product newsNew EPD for heavy plates & structural steels
4 May 2020ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products has released a new EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for heavy plates and structural steels.
Product news
ArcelorMittal tubes in the longest treetop path in the world

ArcelorMittal Europe – Tubular Products supplied tubes for the 'Senda dil Dragun', the longest treetop path in the world, located in Laax, Switzerland, offering an interactive and unique nature experience for all visitors.
Take a walk 28 metres above the ground
Opened in 2021, the Senda dil Dragun (or Path of The Dragon) is the longest treetop path in the world. It connects the two villages of Laax Murschetg and Laax Dorf in southeast Switzerland.
This 1.56-kilometre-long footbridge offers visitors the opportunity to take a scenic stroll 28 metres above the ground in the Laax forest. Along with viewing platforms, it also includes an impressive 73m-long slide for visitors to make their way back down to the ground.
JÄKL tubes from Karviná
The Senda dil Dragun project was designed by the local company Hofmann & Durisch Architects and implemented by the City of Laax and the Weisse Arena Group. The structure was built using JÄKL round tubes manufactured by ArcelorMittal Europe – Tubular Products in its plant in Karviná, Czech Republic. The tubes were supplied by long-term business partner, Kindlimann AG, a member of the Van Leeuwen Group. Kindlimann AG delivered approximately twenty-three tonnes of seamless thick-walled tubes 139.7x5, S355. The company Ragettli Metallbau AG (Flims Dorf) installed 6000 metres of galvanised gas tubes 33.7x3.2, S195 as supports and as railings for this impressive construction.
In 2021, ArcelorMittal Europe - Tubular Products launched the revival of the JÄKL brand, which has been used for more than a century in Karviná and is undoubtedly an iconic brand in the Czech industry. ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Karviná has long been successfully developing the production and sale of steel sections with a heavy emphasis on the precision and quality of each product.
René Fabik, Karviná plant manager says: “It is a great pleasure for every manufacturer to see that their products are used on such extraordinary construction sites. At the same time, it is clear that Swiss standards and quality requirements are among the most demanding in the world. We perceive this result as an appreciation of our work. It has been proven that the original JÄKL products from Karviná exactly meet these maximum client requirements."
Sustainability at the heart of the project
As for other building materials, in accordance with the ecological concept of the whole building emphasising sustainability, the Senda dil Dragun was built exclusively with wood from local sources. It has been designed to blend in with the surrounding nature and minimise its impact on the environment.
The route was chosen in the most natural way possible to minimise deforestation during construction. The project is fully barrier-free with lifts at both ends of the trail. Four observation platforms with plenty of seating and a unique view of the iconic alpine landscape offer a refreshing natural experience for the whole family.
The Laax region believes that this new and completely unique tourist attraction will attract more visitors to this region from literally all over the world.
Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia
Images:
Kindlimann AG
Shutterstock
Related link(s)
Matière uses high strength ArcelorMittal steels to provide vital bridges in remote areas

The French company Matière first introduced its Unibridge® concept in 2004. Today these patented structures are shipped around the world where they are used as permanent or temporary crossings for vehicles and pedestrians. Thanks to their modular nature and ease of construction, the Unibridge® is particularly popular in remote regions where materials and skilled workers are hard to find. The solution uses ArcelorMittal’s S355K2+N and S460M high strength steel plates which are known for their durability, giving the Unibridge® a 100-year design life.
Close cooperation with ArcelorMittal
“The close cooperation between ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products and ArcelorMittal Projects, together with the quality of the plates produced in ArcelorMittal’s mill in Gijón, Spain guarantees the best level of service for Matière,” says Michaël Regal, Account Manager for Matière at ArcelorMittal Projects.
Since 2018, heavy plates from our Gijón mill have been successfully delivered to Matière and its subcontractors in France, Belgium, and Portugal. “When a very short lead time is required, we are in the position to offer a delivery in less than a week at any Matière yard thanks to our own stock of plates, beams, and tubes,” says Michaël Regal.
Designed for remote and developing regions
The Unibridge® was initially developed as a solution for the military but was never adopted. Matière immediately saw the potential of the solution in developing countries and remote locations as Hervé Blanc, Deputy General Manager of Matière, explains: “These areas typically require many bridges, but there is a lack of resources and skills to produce them.”
Ease of transport and construction in remote areas was a key consideration in the early design phase notes Hervé Blanc: “We developed a structure that does not require welding on site, and which can be assembled without heavy lifting devices. In some cases, the girders can be offloaded and pushed into place with an excavator, or sometimes by the truck that delivered them. It takes around five days to install a typical two-lane (nine-metre wide) bridge that is 40 metres in length.”
The only preparatory work that needs to be done is preparing the bridge’s abutments. That can be done by an onsite partner who can complete the work while the bridge is being manufactured and shipped.
Simple design makes transport simple and efficient
Matière adapted the design to ensure two of the box girders which form the basis of the Unibridge® could fit into a standard shipping container. “Our box girders are 11.4 metres in length, ensuring two can fit into each container,” says Hervé Blanc. “The girders can be pinned on site to create a maximum length of 60 metres. But if you include piles, you can extend the length of the bridge significantly. We’re currently constructing a Unibridge® in the Philippines which will be four kilometres long. There is no limit on the width of the Unibridge® as the box girders can be simply linked with spacers.”
Weight saving with S460M
Another consideration was keeping the weight of the container below 25 tonnes. “Thanks to the use of ArcelorMittal grades such as S460M, weight is not an issue,” says Hervé Blanc. “In the beginning we constructed the entire bridge from S355, and a typical box girder weighed 12 tonnes. Today we are using more S460M, and the average weight is 10 tonnes, a saving of almost 20 percent. Now we are looking at replacing the S355 with S460M from ArcelorMittal to achieve even greater weight savings. That will reduce the cost of transporting and installing the bridges.”
Low maintenance steels extend bridge life
One of the key advantages of ArcelorMittal’s steels is that they don’t need a lot of maintenance as Hervé Blanc explains: “ArcelorMittal’s steels are very tough! The bridge simply needs a fresh coat of paint every 15 to 20 years to protect it. In some areas we recommend a C5 paint system due to the marine environment.”
A sustainable solution thanks to steel
As the Unibridge® is prefabricated, there is no waste produced on site. All scrap steel produced in Matière’s factories is recycled or reused. The sustainability of the solution is further enhanced as it can be transported by ship from Matière’s plants in Europe.
The bridges themselves can be fully recycled at the end of their life or disassembled and reconstructed in another location. “The company which is building a traffic deviation around Strasbourg, France is renting two of our Unibridge® solutions to divert traffic around the roadworks,” says Hervé Blanc. “They will be in place for two years before they are dismantled and reassembled in another location.”
To date, Matière has installed over a thousand Unibridge® solutions in more than 35 countries around the world. “The introduction of the Unibridge® in 2004 was the beginning of Matière’s success story,” says Hervé Blanc. “But every Unibridge® is also a human success story. They can cut a journey that normally takes a day, to just an hour. This dramatically changes the way people in remote areas live and interact.”
About Matière
Matière was founded in 1932 and is still a family-run company. The business operates three plants in France and one in Belgium. All the plants produce components for Matière’s bridge business. In addition to the Unibridge®, Matière produce reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges, metal bridges, and composite structures which use both metal and concrete. The company is also involved in the repair of concrete and metallic bridges. Around 65 percent of its bridges are exported outside Europe.
For more information, visit: www.matiere-tp.com
About ArcelorMittal Projects
ArcelorMittal Projects has a global network of offices to support customers wherever their projects are located. We can leverage all parts of the ArcelorMittal group and source steel products from different segments.
We have specialty stocks of steel strategically located around the globe. That enables us to provide a complete and customised range of steel solutions and services, which include dedicated project management and prefabrication.
For more information, visit: https://projects.arcelormittal.com
Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communications, Constructalia
Images: Matière
Related link(s)
New EPD for heavy plates & structural steels

ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products has released a new EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for heavy plates and structural steels.
This declaration refers to heavy plates - hot rolled products produced in dedicated quarto plate mills. It is certified by IBU (Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V.) according to standards ISO 14025 and EN 15804 and covers all structural steel grades according to EN 10025, including weathering steels.
Heavy plates for construction can be used in various construction applications such as:
- Buildings: structural and built-up welded sections, trusses, box girders for heavy industrial steel frames, high-rise buildings, long-span structures for transport terminals and other infrastructure.
- Road and railway bridges: steel and composite structures made of welded built-up sections or box girders or trusses, arch and bow-string bridges, pedestrian and bicycles bridges, cable-stayed and suspension decks, and pylon bridges.
You can also download this new EPD for our heavy steel plates in our Document library.
Related link(s)
Footbridges
Throughout its wide range of products, ArcelorMittal provides an extensive set of solutions that meet footbridge performance and aesthetics requirements.
Useful information
- Bridges with Rolled Sections
- ACOBRI: Pre-design of Composite Bridges
- SBRI Report: Sustainable Steel-Composite Bridges in Built Environment
- LCA Study on Bridges as Requested by Dutch Government
- Eurocodes: Commentary & Worked examples to EN 1993-1-10 “Material toughness and through thickness properties“
- Efficient and Economic Design of Composite Bridges with Small and Medium Spans
Footbridges are a symbol of soft transportation mode development in urban areas.
Like any other bridge, footbridges must be long enough to cross the obstacle below and high enough not to interfere with whatever passes beneath the bridge.
However, it is an increasingly common requirement for footbridges to be ‘landmark structures’. Therefore, the appearance of the structure is met with more attention than usual.
In most footbridge cases, a fairly light structure is required as the loads they carry are quite modest. This may result in some very innovative and unique forms of construction.
Contact footbridges with heavy plates
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Flat Products General Information
Technical Information
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Contact footbridges with rolled sections
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TECOM
Technical Advisory
ArcelorMittal Commercial Sections