Civil Infrastructure
Tintagel Bridge installation
NEW THINKING, AWARD-WINNING ASSETS
As a company, we’ve been responsible for many iconic projects. As part of a £5 million redevelopment of the site, in 2020, the then Duke and Duchess of Cornwall opened the new, elevated footbridge at Tintagel. In 2022, the installation won the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust’s 2022 Building Beauty Award. We were brought on board to engineer a solution for the delivery the numerous bridge sections, designed by Ney and Partners, installed by American Bridge.
This was a huge challenge. 28 metres higher than the original crossing and 72m in span, the new bridge would open up expansive views of the coastline and of the original land-link. The structure – 4.5m high where it springs from the rock face – tapers to a thickness of 170mm in the centre, with a clear joint between the mainland and island halves. It was expected to transform the visitor experience, and has done since its opening in 2020.
Legend has it, the original walkway of the 16th century was so narrow, three knights alone could have defended Tintagel Castle. When that link bridge collapsed, visitors had to trek up and down a steep path to access the ramparts. Designed for great longevity, the new infrastructure was fabricated in steel, oak and Cornish slate to bridge the 190 ft gorge – but the installation had to contend with a rugged clifftop landscape.
SECTION BY SECTION
A conventional approach might have been to suggest road transport for the major part of this project. However, by using our flat top barges as an alternative solution, we were able to minimise risk and emissions, reduce the time frames involved and, reduce inconvenience to local communities. Once off-loaded, we used Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) to transport each section of the new bridge along the narrow lanes and winding roads leading to the clifftop.
When the bridge also won a RIBA National Award in 2021, the jury commented: “Technical achievement and degree of difficulty metrics are high in this project where construction logistics and material specification have all been expertly handled. It also sets the bar very high above the potentially choppy waters of the competitions and commissioning process, standing out as an exemplar of how projects should be run, having been taken from concept to delivery without dither or delay. This is much more than a bridge. It is a connector, an enabler, an interpreter and a spectacle all within its own right.”
Delivering
- Barge Transport
- Engineering
- Project Management
- QHSE
- SPMTs
“OUR MARINE AND HEAVY LIFTING HERITAGE PROMPTED A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO THIS SOLUTION, ONE THAT RESULTED IN SAVINGS AND SAFER INSTALLATION OF THIS AWARD-WINNING BRIDGE."Nigel Fletcher – CEO, Osprey
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