UK Bridge: Bad Engineering, Waste of Money

According to some bridge engineers, there are two basic problems with the designs for Sunderland’s (UK) 118million New Wear Bridge.

First, it is a shocking piece of bridge engineering.

Second, it is an absolute waste of money.

Produced by architect Spence Architect and structures consultant Technika, the designs involve a steel/concrete composite bridge featuring two cable stay towers, one 180 metres tall and the other 140 metres tall, on either side of the deck. A report in the UK’s New Civil Engineer magazine says the towers taper and curve toward each other longitudinally, overlapping when viewed in elevation. Despite the overlap above deck level, the report says, there is no physical connection between them.

Bad Engineering

Independent bridge expert Simon Bourne does not mince words when describing the engineering features of the design produced.

“The bridge is about as structurally inefficient as you can imagine,” Bourne says.

Basic problems, he says, stem from two core issues associated with the towers: their unusual shape and the lack of connection between them.

First, they must be able to resist extremely high bending forces, meaning the structures – and hence the cost – are much larger than what would be needed for a conventional cable-stayed structure....

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