had to be demolished before construction
could proceed. Steel support trestles were
assembled by driving tubular steel piles
through its deck, and they were used to prop
the structure during demolition.
The supports served a dual role: they
were then reused as the supports for the
network arch span during its erection.
This smart temporary works design saved
approximately £750,000.
“Severfield and AECOM Mott
MacDonald collaborated for 12 months on
various structures on this project. Using our
detailers and value engineering experience,
we quickly developed a positive relationship,
identifying ways together to build the best
structure possible,” says Severfield Project
Manager Jarrod Hulme.
The deck girders were installed piecemeal
onto the abutments and temporary supports,
welded together, and cross-girders bolted
in place. The arch sections were brought
to site in segments, and welded together
lying on their side near the river bank. Both
arches were then rotated on end pivots to
their correct inclination (6° from vertical),
overhead bracing installed and temporary tie
cables and struts inserted.
The dual-arch assembly weighed nearly
600 tonnes, and was erected onto the end
nodes of the tie girders with a tandem crane
lift, using a 750-tonne crawler crane along
with the UK’s largest 1300-tonne crawler
crane.
Hanger stressing was the most complex
construction stage, with a total of 136 stages
of stressing completed. Two independent
load monitoring systems were used in
every hanger during construction, with one
monitoring system left in place for in-service
structural health monitoring. Although the
structure behaved generally as predicted,
A W A R D SSDA 2018
close cooperation was required between the
construction and design teams to allow small
divergences in hanger load to be corrected.
Summing up the use of Building
Information Modelling (BIM) on the project,
AECOM Mott MacDonald Engineering
Manager Brian Duguid says: “This is 21st
Century engineering in every sense – for
the first time we have swept way the old 2D
drawing legacy that dates back centuries.”
The judges say the Ordsall Chord project
is a major piece of new railway infrastructure
that has a truly civic presence. The project
combines a new network arch railway bridge
and approach viaducts with integrated public
realm. Weathering steel is used as a strong
unifying element that flows through from the
viaduct and bridge approach upstands into
the main arches of the railway bridge, giving
the scheme a strong architectural identity
within its urban setting.
NSC 23
October 18
FACT FILE
Architect: BDP
Structural engineers: AECOM Mott MacDonald JV
Specialist designer: Knight Architects
Steelwork contractor: Severfield
Main contractors: Skanska BAM JV
Client: Network Rail
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