Engineering a bridge to promote cross-cultural connections
“Your team has not only engineered a physical bridge; you have designed a connection across cultures.”
This testimonial from US Customs & Border Protection (USCBP), the primary tenant in his project, appropriately sums up this unique project. The simplest way to describe CBX in a single sentence is: “An airport without any aircraft attached that straddles the US-Mexican border.”
This visionary, privately-funded project, which received wide support on both sides of the border, is the only one of its kind in the world. It involved agreements between the US and Mexican governments to create a privately-financed skybridge over an international border, and the first new USCBP facility to be built since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
CBX transforms travel between US and Mexico by facilitating an easier border crossing for millions of passengers travelling for leisure and business, while significantly reducing the carbon intensity of travel. It is also expected to be a major catalyst for economic growth on both sides of the border.
Over two million people use land-crossings each year to cross the US-Mexican border for flights departing from Mexico’s Tijuana International Airport (TIJ). The time it takes to drive across the border is unpredictable, and the traffic and resultant air pollution is considerable. The CBX takes advantage of TIJ’s close proximity to the border with an 86,000 SF building containing departures and arrivals functions, plus a 390-foot pedestrian skybridge over the border. Passengers departing from the US, park on CBX property, enter the building, check-in, walk over the border using the new bridge, and literally descend into TIJ to reach their flights. Returning passengers land at TIJ, take the bridge across the border, enter the US through the new USCBP facility, and emerge from the CBX to take their preferred form of transportation.
At a Glance
- Associate Architect
- Legorreta y Legorreta
- Award
- 2016ENR Award of Merit
Rian Burger, Senior Principal, Buildings
There’s never a dull moment in the sheer complexity and diversity of airports work.
Christopher Wilson, Vice President, Regional Business Leader, Buildings (US West)
Leading my team to create vibrant and healthy places makes me feel like I’m contributing to the future of Sacramento, my home community.
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