Bridge improvements reduce flood threat

The impact of the new Eden Bridge over the River Eden on its flood plain is a key issue to the construction of the Carlisle Northern Development Route (CNDR).
February 16, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A corrugated steel system from Tubosider UK was used for the culverts
The impact of the new Eden Bridge over the River Eden on its flood plain is a key issue to the construction of the Carlisle Northern Development Route (CNDR). The new 8.25km road is being built west of the city following the flooding of Carlisle in north-west England in 2005, and increased flood risk generally, The local study carried out by the 2759 Environment Agency in the wake of the 2005 floods recommended lowering the flood bank downstream by 1m and removing an old railway embankment to mitigate the future threat to Carlisle but placing added importance on the Eden plain's topography.

As a result of the flood modelling work carried out by 2762 Capita Symonds, the technical adviser managing the project for Cumbria County Council, the plan for the new bridge's northern embankment called for a series of culverts with a combined cross section of 160m².

Although the illustrative drawing featured a concrete hatched structure, design engineers Scott Wilson recommended the greater practicality and easier installation of a corrugated steel system as manufactured by 2580 Tubosider UK, also the providers of the most economical solution.

"Tubosider's bolted plate is 2309 Highways Agency-approved, sufficient to gain approval, and using its detailed plans for assembling each prefabricated component, all 15 culverts are now in place. The final solution was for ten large diameter structures of 6mm thickness and then five smaller ones of 4mm, all ranging in span from 3.32-4.46m.

It's a system 1486 Birse Civils has often used before," said design manager Bob Gibson of Birse Civils, contractors for the design and construction of the new road.

Due to open in early 2012, the CNDR will run from the A595 to M6 Junction 44 and is a £176 million (e200 million) public private partnership (PPP) concession contract run for Cumbria County Council by 1146 Balfour Beatty through its wholly-owned subsidiary Connect Roads. It will take traffic away from Carlisle centre and improve links between west Cumbria, Scotland and the north-east of England. As winning bidder, Balfour Beatty also takes control of 150km of existing road network and will maintain this for a period of 30 years.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Symology supplies the foundations for Tarmac’s Street Works business
    April 7, 2017
    UK contractor Tarmac has been in partnership with Symology since 2011, using a shared management service for asset management to meet tougher government street work regulations, writes Matt Waite Tarmac, with more than 6,600 employees, is the UK’s leading sustainable building materials and construction solutions business. The company has over 330 UK sites from which it delivers contracting and highways maintenance services as well as products such as aggregates, asphalt, cement, lime and ready-mix concre
    Read More
  • Kier’s strong financial performance
    September 20, 2018
    Kier Group has announced a strong financial performance for its full-year results to 30th June 2018. The results were bolstered in particular by a solid performance in its highways business. The company claims that this has reinforced the firm’s position as the UK’s leading provider of highways management and maintenance services. Over the 12 months, Kier has maintained its position as the lead supplier to Highways England. Securing two three-year extensions to 2021 and 2022 respectively worth over £250 m
    Read More
  • Germany builds its first major PPI autobahn project
    July 7, 2015
    Rebuilding of one of the oldest motorways in Germany is testing out the possibilities for public-private project road construction reports Adrian Greeman A freshly renovated section of the A8 Autobahn in southern Germany will be watched with some interest this summer as traffic begins driving along its rebuilt carriageway and additional third lanes. That is not because of any special road features, other than a distinctive reddish colour to its concrete surface, but because it is a first fullscale public
    Read More
  • Building Egypt's world class Desert Highway
    May 3, 2012
    A huge highway upgrade project will transform the Cairo-Alexandria road link into a world-class connection as Mike Woof reports. The work to upgrade the Desert Highway connecting Egypt's sprawling capital Cairo with its major port Alexandria, is one of the country's largest infrastructure projects for many years. This 220km highway link is being widened and improved to cope with the hugely increased traffic volumes resulting partly from Egypt's fast growing vehicle population. The Egyptian economy is strong
    Read More

Highlighted Content