The footbridge was designed and fabricated for a stretch of Strawberry Creek near the Asian Garden Collection in the 34-acre University of California Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden’s collection of over 13,000 plants from around the world, including many rare or endangered species. Strawberry Creek is one of the Garden’s most attractive features but visitors must either jump over it or tread carefully on slippery stepping stones, a major safety concern for the Garden’s Director Paul Licht. Among many other plants and animals, two species of newt, the California Newt and the Rough-Skinned Newt live in the creek and migrate to the pool in the Japanese Garden to mate. By allowing the creek to be crossed safely, especially during periods of increased water flow, the new footbridge protects the creek bed habitat from damage caused by foot traffic.

The Botanical Garden Footbridge is nearly level, the design using two species of locally harvested wood: western red cedar - highly durable, naturally resistant to rot, decay, and insect attacks; and California walnut - rich brown in color, with a beautiful grain, a hard, smooth texture, great strength for its weight, and exceptional stability.

The contrasting colors of the two woods are emphasized by the design of the footbridge. Ten feet long and three feet wide with ¾” walnut battens spaced 11/16” apart, the bridge deck is integrated with the crossed walnut battens and cedar dowels of its diagrid support structure using interlocking dovetail joints and the minimum number of stainless steel screws needed for structural stability, an innovation which suggests a synthesis of garden trellis technology and traditional Japanese wood joinery.