Articles about Awards

The Mott MacDonald project engineers & our team member Steve Dunn provide information on the completed renovation of Redhall Weir footbridge in Edinburgh using a Lifespan resin infused FRP bridge deck solution - the first of it's kind in Scotland.

A new 16.5m span, sustainable FRP footbridge with a design life of 120 years incorporating a bespoke balustrade of marine-grade polished steel and infill panels with a protective rust patina.

Dates now available for CPD events in November, December 2023 and into early 2024
Email steven@lifespanstructures.com to arrange a suitable date & time

Colinton Dell is a steep-sided gorge and wildlife refuge on the Water of Leith, just north of the old village of Colinton on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Today walkways and a cycle path take visitors to the ruined Redhall Mill and past Kate's Mill, where paper for the Bank of Scotland's first banknotes is said to have been made.
As a result of a Lifespan e news letter campaign in the autumn of last year we received an enquiry from the Mott MacDonald team in Edinburgh.

After several on line meetings and an on site visit we developed a solution for the Client Edinburgh City Council and introduced CRL Scotland to the project team as a specialist contractor that was capable of delivering the project.

Following a tender process in early 2023 CRL Scotland were awarded the project valued at circa £250,000 as reported in March of this year

The objective of the project was to provide a replacement deck for the existing Colinton Dell Rustic Footbridge with a design life of 120 years. The existing timber deck on the footbridge was in very poor condition and a new Lifespan Structures (FRP) deck was designed, manufactured & installed by CRL Scotland as a replacement so that the bridge can be re-opened in July of this year

Due to the very challenging location of the site the CRL team came up with a carefully thought out plan as to how they would remove the old bridge and be able to safely install the new Lifespan FRP deck sections.

Additional challenges for the team included a high pressure gas main adjacent to the existing bridge, the steepness of the Dell either side of the bridge location and that everything had to come through the famous Colinton Dell Tunnel.

The new Lifespan Structures FRP deck was designed in house to conform with a specification provided by Mott MacDonald. The new deck of approximately 28m span was supplied in 5 sections of 5.7m long x 2.5m wide and 65mm thick that are mechanically fixed onto the existing longitudinal steel beams, that are in good condition. A new 1.5m high galvanised steel parapet was also be installed.

Watch the video here of the completed bridge
https://youtu.be/7F7L-bdyUPE

Lifespan Structures FRP cycleway Bridges on Horsey Way, Eastbourne, were highly commended at the 2018 ICE South East England Engineering Excellence awards in the best infrastructure category..no mean feat when going up against much larger schemes, congratulations to all involved in the project! The new Horsey Cycleway crosses a wetlands area where two footbridges with service vehicle access were required to cross waterways on the route.  Due to the poor ground conditions the bridges needed to be lightweight to aid installation and reduce the abutment loadings.  The client, had already used an FRP composite footbridge on a previous scheme and commissioned Lifespan Structures to design and manufacture the two FRP composite Footbridges.  The bridges were both 3.0m wide  and had clear spans of 14.8m and 10.6m with respective deck weights of 5600kg and 3350kg.