National Highways is looking for a new design for a footbridge as part of the Lower Thames Crossing project. However, that could be a precursor to wider use of the winning design.
National Highways is responsible for more than 600 footbridges in England, with many needing to be replaced in the coming years.
The footbridge for the Lower Thames Crossing project is set to go over the A127, near its intersection with the M25 in Essex, restoring the connection between Moor Lane and Folkes Lane, which was severed when the A127was opened in 1924.
With the Lower Thames Crossing being used as a pilot project for reducing embedded carbon, the design competition is expected to produce a footbridge that sets a new benchmark for low carbon, National Highways said.
The National Highways design contest is open to all qualifying engineering and architectural firms. As well as being judged on the design’s use of low carbon materials and construction methods, the contest will also be looking for evidence of good design principles that allows ease of access and a pleasant crossing environment for all pedestrians.
The judging panel that will select the winning footbridge design includes representatives from the London Borough of Havering (where the bridge will be situated), Transport for London, National Highways and Balfour Beatty (the contractor for the new crossing’s approach roads north of the Thames.)
National Highways work on footbridges appears to duplicate recent and ongoing work by Network Rail, which in June released an updated catalogue of standard designs. While Network Rail’s station footbridges might be overengineered for National Highways’ requirement (unless National Highways wishes to specify passenger lifts on its footbridges), its design book includes the FLOW footbridge for remote settings. FLOW stands for fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP), lower cost, optimised design, working bridge. Designed by Knight Architects and Jacobs, a prototype was installed in January 2023 to replace a pedestrian level crossing near Craven Arms in the Shropshire hills.
However, rather than having two agencies of the Department for Transport collaborating on this, National Highways is doing its own thing.
The competition opens on 9th August 2024. For details, see nationalhighways.co.uk/LTCfootbridge
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