TRANSPORTATION
HUBS
Villena, Grace Angelica C.
ARC 2101
DEFINITION
Transportation hub can be defined as a location which handles several
transport modes. Transport modes can be of various types like tramway, bus,
automobile, ship, pedestrian, railway, metro or rapid transit, coach, truck,
airplane
and
ferry.
This
can
also
be
defined
as
a
place
where passengers and cargo are
exchanged
between
vehicles
or
between transport modes. Public transport hubs include train stations, rapid
transit stations, bus stops, tram stop, airports and ferry slips. Freight hubs
include classification yards, seaports and truck terminals, or combinations of
these. For private transport the parking lot functions as a hub. One can expect
numerous advantages from transportation hubs. The transportation hubs offer
high frequency of services in respect to other locations. The next advantage is
the impressive development of an efficient distribution system simply because
the transportation hubs can handle more traffic. Most of the transportation
hubs make use of the shared transshipment facilities and so, the people can
avail higher quality infrastructures at lower costs. Transportation hubs can be
discussed in international, national and regional levels.
DIFFERENT TRANSPORTATION HUBS
I. Public Transport Hubs
Train Stations
A train station also called a railway station or railroad station is
a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or
goods. It generally consists of a platform next to the tracks and a station
building (depot) providing related services such as ticket sales and waiting
rooms. If a station is on a single track main line, it usually has a passing loop to
facilitate the traffic. Smallest stations are referred as stops or halts (flag stops).
The
world's busiest
passenger station, in terms of
daily passenger throughput,
is Shinjuku
Station in Tokyo, Japan.
The
station was used by an
average of 3.64 million people
per day in 2007. Ikebukuro
Station in Tokyo is the world's
second-busiest. The station
was used by an average of
2.71 million people per day in
2007.
As
of
2006,
the
Beijing West
world's largest
Station in Beijing, China
station was Beijing
West
station in Beijing, China. But today, many new stations are larger than Beijing
West, Beijing South, Guangzhou South, Nanjing South, Shanghai Hongqiao, and
Xi'an North all claim itself being Asia's largest.
Rapid Transit Stations
Rapid transit station is an electric passenger railway in an urban
area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other
traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels
or on elevated rails above street level. Outside urban centers, rapid transit
lines may run on grade separated
ground level tracks.
The biggest
system
in the
Philippine
Light Rail
Transit
New York metro
Subway
world by length of routes and number of
stations is the New York Subway, however by length of lines the largest are
the London Underground and Shanghai Metro. The busiest metro systems in
the world by daily and annual ridership are the Tokyo Metro and Moscow Metro.
Bus Stations
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up
and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a
place on the roadside, where buses can stop. It may be intended as a terminal
station for a number of routes, or as a transfer station where the routes
continue. The largest bus
station in the world is
Millennium Park Bus Depot in
Delhi
India.
The
largest
underground bus station in
Europe
is KamppiCentre of Helsinki, Fi
nland completed in 2006. The
terminal cost 100 million Euro
to complete and took 3 years
to design and build. Today, the
bus terminal, which covers
Kamppi Centre Underground Bus Terminal
25,000 square meters, is the
busiest
bus
terminal
in
Finland. Every day, the terminal has around 700 bus departures, transporting
some 170,000 passengers. Bus station platforms may be assigned to fixed bus
lines, or variable in combination with a dynamic passenger information system.
The latter requires fewer platforms, but does not supply the passenger the
comfort of knowing the platform well in advance and waiting there.
Airports
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft,
helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Airports can be towered or nontowered, depending on air traffic density and available funds. Due to their high
capacity and busy airspace, many international airports have air traffic control
located on site.
Ninoy Aquino International Airport
And, the top airline hubs of the world are;Atlanta- Hartsfield, Chicago- O'
Hare, London- Heathrow,Tokyo- Haneda, Los Angeles, Dallas, Charles de GaulleParis, Frankfurt Main, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Denver, Madrid, New York,
Phoenix, Beijing, Hong Kong, Houston, Bangkok, Minneapolis, Detroit, Orlando,
Newark,San Francisco, London- Gatwick, Singapore, Philadelphia,Tokyo- Narita,
Miami, Toronto and Seattle.
Ferry
Harbors which are handling several ships and cargo would also be coming
under the category of transportation hubs. Harbors can be of two types, natural
and artificial. Natural harbors are usually large and can accommodate a huge
number of ships. San Francisco Bay in California is a natural harbor. Artificial
harbors are made with jetties and piers to make space for the larger ships. The
port of Trondheim in Norway is also another transportation hub as far as the
busy harbors of the world are concerned. The harbors which allow the ships to
load and unload cargo are usually combined with ports. Harbors are the most
economically significant form of transportation hubs as any nation can carry
out international trade through ports and harbors which have got the adequate
infrastructure to accommodate large number of ships. It is quite evident from
this brief discussion that transportation hubs can facilitate trade and promote
tourism all over the world. It is ala bout managing more traffic in an impressive
manner.
SANTIAGO CALATRAVA
Lige Guillemins TGV Station (Lige, Belgium)
Lige Guillemins Station is a major node in the European high speed rail
network; an indispensable link between London, Paris, Brussels and Germany.
Calatrava's new Lige Guillemins Station links two very distinct areas of Lige,
previously divided by the railway tracks, the north side towards the city, a
typical run-down 19th century urban area, and the Cointe Hill to the south, a
landscaped residential area.
The concept for the design was transparency and an urban dialog with
the city. Transparency is translated by the monumental vault, constructed of
glass and steel, with its soaring canopies extending 145 meters over the five
platforms. The huge glass building replaces the traditional facade and
establishes a seamless interaction between the interior of the station and the
city.
Photo Thomas Mayer
Photo Thomas Mayer
The station is organized vertically: Towards the Place de la Gare the rail
platforms and the access footbridge stack over 3 levels. Towards Cointe Hill, ten
meters above, there are five levels; three parking levels, a vehicular access
deck linking with the footbridge, and a raised pedestrian walkway.
At the Place de la Gare
level, reinforcing the urban
streetscape, is a continuous
strip of commercial units.
Pedestrian bridges and
walkways under the tracks
allow for fluid communication
between the two sides of the
station. The grand Passenger
Hall and the SNCB ticketing
area are located on the main
axis.
Photo Thomas Mayer
Photo Thomas Mayer
Photo Thomas Mayer
Photo Thomas Mayer
Photo Thomas Mayer
Photo Thomas Mayer
The project has no facade in
the traditional sense, since the
interaction between interior
and exterior is seamless. The
monumental roof becomes, in
effect, the projects facade. To
an observer on the hill, the
roof reveals something of the
inner organization of the
station. To an observer within
the station, the structural
arches of the roof frame the
views to the outside. From any vantage point, the sensation of transparency
prevails.
Drawing courtesy Santiago CalatravaSite Plan
Sketch courtesy Santiago Calatrava
Model photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava
Model photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava
Construction area: 49,000 square meters (including roads)
Overall length: 488 meters
Total area of Glass Roof: 33,000 square meters
Completed: 2009
Client: SNCB Holding, Infrabel and Euro Lige TGV
Architect: Santiago Calatrava
"My goal was to create a building that reflects the new stations potential
significance as a high speed inter-urban link between Europes cities.
I imagined a building without facades with a soaring roof above offering
protection from the elements (particularly the ever present rain of the Belgian
Winter). This could maintain the views through and of the station. The vaulted
shape was a natural development of this vision while the soft (perhaps
feminine) undulating curve of the roof was selected to mimic the graceful rise
and fall of the Cointe hills beyond.
I felt that there was no better way to celebrate the technological achievement
of the TGV trains than to expose the working platforms and the dynamism of
the moving ensemble of passengers and trains."
The Pont des Guillemins, also by Santiago Calatrava, connects the motorway
that crosses Lige to the 800 space parking facility at the Lige Guillemins TGV
Station.
Like the Campo de Volantn Footbridge in Bilbao,
the design of the Pont des Guillemins consists of
a rectilinear torsion tube, to which the bridge
elements are welded, radiating to form the arc
of the circle described by the plan of the deck.
The arch is made of a steel tube welded at each
end to the torsion tube of the deck. The
combination of the curve of the deck, and the
straight lines of tube and vertical projection of
the arch, emphasizes the effect of suspended
movement.
Lyon-Satolas TGV Station (Lyon, France)
The Lyon-Satolas Station is the terminus
for the TGV trains connecting the airport
to the city of Lyon, 30 kilometers to the
south. The almost forty meter tall steel
and concrete structure refers to the
metaphor of a enormous bird with spread
out wings.
Arriving by car you enter the Main Hall
through a "Gateway" formed by a
concrete V-shaped abutment that join the
ends of four steel arches.
The center pair of arches follow the line of the roof to form a spine, the outer
curved beams span over two glazed symmetrical concourse wings.
In the triangular Main Hall the central spine is formed by three arches braced
together by diagonal beams. Two large cantilevered balconies penetrate the
space. The adjoining concrete service building is fitted with a steel and glass
window wall that overlooks the Main Hall.
The spine is supported by a concrete mass on the east and two supports,
integrated with lift towers, on the west. The uppermost arch of the spine is a
steel box of triangular section while the two lower arches are composed of steel
tubes. The cross bracing members vary in size and are assembled four by four
along the central tubes.
From the Main Hall, where all the station's and airport services are positioned,
two vaulted glass and steel concourse wings connect to the train platforms.
Cast on site concrete elements support the platform roof and visually
complement the roof modules in the main terminal area. The roof is either
glazed or filled with prefabricated concrete sections.
In the main Hall, opposite the entrance, a 180 meter long Gallery connects the
station to the airport terminal. The Gallery can also be accessed directly from
the overnight parking area.
Main Hall: length 130 m, max. width
100 m, max. height 39 m
Concourse Hall: length 450 m, width
56 m,
Height tracks to raised central
walkway 8 m, to roof 17 m
Competition Winner: 1989
Completed: 1994
Clients: French Railways (SNCF),
Region Rhne Alpes,
Lyon Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (CCIL).
Architect: Santiago Calatrava
Project Architects:
Alexis Bourrat
Sebastien Mamet
Project Team:
Dan Burr
David Long
Work supervision:
Planitec DTX
Major contractors:
E.I.-G.F.C.-M.S
Eiffel; Berretta-Girardet-Instalux
Leon Grosse
G.T.M.
Baudin-Chateauneuf
Sondika Airport
Bilbao, Spain
With his design, that is both visually striking and structurally daring, Calatrava
puts the joy back into contemporary travel.
The steel and concrete structure , nicknamed La Paloma (the Dove) because of
its resemblance to a giant bird about to take flight, is integrated into the hilly
green landscape in the Txoriherri Valley in close proximity to Bilbao.
The aluminium skin of the Central Terminal sweeps across the 140 meter long
terminal entry, providing cover for multiple levels of arrival and departure.
The passengers reach the aircrafts by way of the Departure Hall, a soaring
structure awash with daylight, and the four-storey Departure Gallery beyond
that connects to the concourse,an aluminium wing reminiscent of an aircraft
skin, that contain twelve passenger terminal gates.
The Departure Hall, with its ribbed concrete wings, is clear of visual clutter. Struts and wires
cast changing patterns of striated shadows on the walls and granite floor.
The layout was designed to limit the impact of auxiliary buildings on the vista of the main
building. An elegant four-storey parking structure, with a skylit walkway leading to the Terminal
Building, is tucked into a grassy embankment.
Sondika Bilbao Airport, designed by Santiago Calatrava, opened to traffic on November 19,
2000.
Drawing courtesy Santiago Calatrava
Ground Level Plan
Drawing courtesy Santiago Calatrava
Site Plan
West Elevation
Section
Client: Aeropuertes Nacionales de Bilbao
Calatrava also designed the Bilbao Zubi Zuri, or
"white bridge," over the Nervion River, that links
a rundown but rejuvenating commercial area
with an elegant residential neighborhood. The
glass deck is illuminated from the underside at
night.
Photo: arcspace
Sources:
http://www.hubs.in/transportation/
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.nileguide.com/blog/2009/12/08/top-10-coolest-train-stations-from
around-the-world/
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/calatrava
http://imageshack.us
arcspace
