Articles about CUR96

The DMRB was updated by Highways England just before the lockdown started. We were probably all distracted from noticing this at the time. The technical changes were substantial, especially regarding FRP bridges but the structure of the suite of documents changed. A summary of these changes can be seen at (https://standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/help#new-structure)
One key change for us is the replacement of BD90/05 with CD368. CD368 updates the approach to FRP bridges. The new approach is now quite closely aligned with current European guidance documents.

The existing skewed reinforced concrete footbridge had come to the end of it life, so an FRP Replacement was selected to provide reduced maintenance in the tree enclosed environment over the Gutter.  Following completion of new abutments and associated retaining walls, the lightweight, preformed, replacement allowed fast and simple installation on site using a lorry mounted crane, to both transport and lift the bridge into place.  The colour scheme was selected to match the clients requirements.

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.

600kg FRP bridge deck replaces a 2-3000kg timber bridge, delivered and put in place in just a few hours. The installation of our first generation of lightweight footbridge structures is over 3 years ago now.

A small bridge, just 5m span, used to gain public access across a drainage ditch into a local nature reserve. The client was concerned that a traditional timber structure would have reduced durability due to damp environment, so selected the FRP option to reduce maintenance and subsequent whole life cost.  Its very well used by a lot of happy, wet and very muddy dogs!

[caption id="attachment_777" align="alignnone" width="300"] New FRP footbridge gives path users a safe route away from traffic.[/caption]
Our latest FRP bridge takes the route of a new footpath across a stream and safely away from a road.  The low maintenance FRP solution, in an environment where a timber bridge would have a significantly lower life before major maintenance is required, means significantly reduced whole life costing. The fast procurement and off site construction allowed installation in time for spring and summer season.

We are currently offering our CPD presentation called 'Bridging the Gap', if this is of interest please get in touch.  The presentation is particularly suited to local authority bridge engineers and consulting engineers who provide bridge services. The presentation will covers the following topics to introduce the concept of using FRP materials rather than steel, timber and concrete.  - Introduction to FRP composites
 - History of FRP composites in construction
 - Recent case studies
 - Benefits
 - Cost comparisons with traditional materials
 - Environmental benefits
This presentation will inform attendees of the significant benefits so that the FRP composite material option can be included in appropriate future proposals for the benefit of clients.