Five teams put their best foot forward for footbridge comp
December 5 2024
Five practices have been shortlisted in a footbridge of the future design competition organised by National Highways, the government agency responsible for the upkeep of England's road network.
Among over 30 entrants the veteran bridge-building team of COWI and Moxon were shortlisted for their slender timber design resting on a stainless steel V-shape pier to keep span lengths to a minimum.
They will go head-to-head with rivals from Arup & Sean Harrington Associates; Davies Maguire; Useful Studio Architects and Expedition Engineering and Webb Yates Engineers to secure the commission for a new Lower Thames Crossing. Each team will be judged on their success in minimising carbon emissions through their choice of materials and construction methods with the winner to be revealed in the spring.
The Lower Thames Crossing, billed as Britain's 'greenest road', will connect Kent and Essex via a network of roads and tunnels and is the first project to lock in legally binding carbon commitments as a condition of its planning consent. It also includes 40 miles of new and improved walking routes.
More than just a local solution this bridge could form a mass production template for motorways and major A roads across the country, with National Highways alone managing 600 such structures.
A prestressed stone bridge by Webb Yates Engineers stands out from the pack with the internal tendon profile reflected in the treatment of the façade
Arup and Sean Harrington Associates propose a two-span bridge with twin haunched glulam girders sitting on an all-steel central pier bridging steep reinforced earth embankments
Davies Maguire are in contention with a timber bridge on twin haunched girders, an inclined steel prop as the main pier and stone columns for the approach piers
Useful Studio Architects and Expedition Engineering are pursuing a modular truss bridge that re-uses steel materials and adopts an industrial process for repeatability and efficiency
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