Skip to main content

Arup, Mabey launch Pedesta, a modular glass-fibre polymer bridge

Arup and Mabey have launched what they claim is the first modular glass-fibre reinforced polymer footbridge, with Mabey becoming the first licensed distributor. Based on a concept by engineering design company Arup, Mabey debuted the bridge, called Pedesta, at Bridges 2017, a one-day conference and exhibition in the English city of Coventry in March. The Mabey Group specialises in the design and provision of temporary works including propping and jacking as well as environmental monitoring services, formw
May 22, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The Pedesta bridge comes in any length to suit site requirements
Arup and Mabey have launched what they claim is the first modular glass-fibre reinforced polymer footbridge, with Mabey becoming the first licensed distributor.


Based on a concept by engineering design company 1419 Arup, Mabey debuted the bridge, called Pedesta, at Bridges 2017, a one-day conference and exhibition in the English city of Coventry in March.

The Mabey Group specialises in the design and provision of temporary works including propping and jacking as well as environmental monitoring services, formwork and falsework systems and the hire of non-mechanical groundworks equipment.

The post-tensioned Pedesta bridge can be assembled in remote or hard-to-reach sites inaccessible to large cranes and heavy machinery. Mabey said that the bridge provides a safer alternative to level crossings where traditional pedestrian bridges cannot be installed. Being 70% lighter than steel, the modules require only a pallet truck or forklift for transportation and handling, enabling faster, safer and more efficient project delivery.

The first bridge has been installed at a Site of Special Scientific Interest for Network Rail in Oxford. The bridge modules were light enough to be transported by an articulated truck, assembled on site and then lifted and positioned from a distance.


Pedesta is fully customisable its form, material, colour and finish. The material provides additional resistance to fire, graffiti, vandalism and ultraviolet radiation. It features include 1m-long identical modules fixed together with bolted shear connectors and then post-tensioned. The system allows spans of up to 30m so it can adapt to suit any application.

“We can see this bridge being useful for a whole host of global applications – from rail footbridges to road and river spans,” said Rebecca Stewart, an associate at Arup.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New Metso ES screen’s enhanced screening efficiency
    June 24, 2013
    Metso ES is the Finnish firm’s new, robustly designed, high-energy, elliptical motion horizontal screen. The new screen is said to provide increased uptime and safer maintenance, while delivering up to 25% more screening capacity compared to a conventional screen of matching size. The two unbalanced shaft lines in the Metso ES rotate in opposite directions, generating a high-energy, elliptical motion with a self-synchronisation design. The new screen is said to be an innovative solution, performing brillian
  • Boom times for SRL
    December 14, 2021
    SRL Traffic Systems has announced an exclusive partnership with barrier and gate manufacturer Solar Gates UK to hire out the manufacturer’s INSTABOOM work zone barriers.
  • Bomag’s president Ralf Junker puts his faith in BIM
    November 8, 2017
    World Highways recently caught up with Ralf Junker, president of BOMAG Group, during the company’s Innovation Days at its headquarters in Germany. David Arminas reports. Ralf Junker hasn’t forgotten his roots. You can put as much machine control as you like on a piece of construction equipment but all that high-technology is for nothing if the build quality isn’t there. Junker knows something about build quality. When he started at BOMAG in 1988, he was in the welding shop, eventually becoming supervisor
  • Concrete plant innovations coming to market
    December 12, 2022
    An array of advanced technologies are now coming to market for the concrete plant segment. Manufacturers are developing new systems that offer rewards in output quality and productivity, while also benefiting from sophisticated systems that allow gains in material logistics