Northampton University Bridges

Northampton, UK

Project synopsis

Detailed design of road and pedestrian street bridge, Alternative design of road bridge incorporated steel-concrete composite

Contractor

VolkerFitzpatrick

End client

The University of Northampton

As part of a new university campus development in Northampton, a new road access bridge was required to span the River Nene.

The client’s aspirations and the planning requirements were to keep the character of the existing landscape, while creating an appropriate landmark structure for the new campus.

The client’s reference design included a concrete flat arch bridge spanning 51m, with a shallow rise of 3.9 m above the navigable channel of the river.

However, closer reviews of the concrete solution, undertaken by the design and build team, concluded that the imposed loads to the foundations, and the construction method required to erect a concrete structure, would not prove to be economical.

Tony Gee developed an alternative design, using a steel and concrete composite deck solution to form the flat arch structure.

We provided detailed design services to VolkerFitzpatrick for the road bridge and for a mirrored ‘S’ shape weathering steel footbridge, as well as for ground improvement works and for a temporary works package associated within the infrastructure scheme.