A new bridge is to be built in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing ©Penda

A bridge to coincide with the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing is to be designed by Chinese-Austrian architect Penda and British consulting engineer Arup. 

The Three Mountains Bridge will cross the Gui River and link the Chinese capital with Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, which is due to host the snow events during the Games.

The 452 metre-long structure is reminiscent of a mountain range when viewed from the side. 

The Three Mountains Bridge will cross the Gui River and link Beijing with Zhangjiakou in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics ©Penda
The Three Mountains Bridge will cross the Gui River and link Beijing with Zhangjiakou in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics ©Penda

The overlapping rings on top of the bridge are an allusion to the Olympic logo.

Trees will line the edge of the car lanes, separating the vehicles from a bicycle and pedestrian lane. 

According to the designers, double helix form will enable the bridge to be built with only a fifth of the steel required to build a similar box girder bridge.