Double win for Hertfordshire bridge project

A new bridge at Apsley in Hertfordshire has won two plaudits for the people who built it. The bridge, which spans the West Coast Mainline at Featherbed Lane, serves the Manor Estate. It has been awarded Exceptional Merit for Physical Achievement by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

If that is not enough, Greg Wall, one of the civil engineers involved on the project, submitted a picture for the ICE East of England Photograph Competition and bagged first prize of £250.

The existing estate was served by a narrower road bridge which was unsuited to the traffic it carried. Bovis Homes asked civil engineering company Osborne and its design partner Mott MacDonald to come up with a replacement. The new bridge was constructed off-site and lifted into place overnight by a specialist crane. The winning photograph (see attached) was taken during a daylight test lift.

The ICE East of England Merit Awards are an annual opportunity to mark excellence in civil engineering. Projects within the region that have been completed in the previous year are entered and visited by a panel of judges.

Projects can be entered in any of four categories – physical achievement, technical excellence/innovation, sustainability and team achievement. Awards available are Highly Commended, Merit or the highest award of Exceptional Merit. This year five projects were entered and the Apsley bridge is the only project to win an Exceptional Merit Award. The winners were announced at Girton College, Cambridge on Wednesday 27 June.

Image: The winning picture of Apsley Bridge



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