Multi-span viaduct wins ICE award

The Leven viaduct in south Cumbria has won the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) 2007 North West Merit Award for Engineering Excellence.

The ICE judging panel said: “The rail viaduct epitomises the spirit of innovation required of an award winner.

“We were particularly impressed by the specially designed gantries that allowed work to be carried out on both rail lines at the same time and helped the scheme to be completed in half the time of the original programme,” commented ICE President Quentin Leiper.

The project required Fairfield-Mabey to supply 2,400t of steelwork for the replacement of all of the 49 spans’ walkways and decks.

This was the first time the decks and walkways had been completely replaced.

The project team also included client Network Rail, principal designer Cass Heywood, main contractor Carillion and Corus Railway Infrastructure Services.