Winning Corus Design Grants Historic Viaduct a New Lease of Life
15 Aug 2005
Coinciding with the longest closure of the Forth Bridge in its history for major maintenance, Network Rail had just eight days to undertake strengthening work to the 115 year-old Jamestown viaduct using a highly bespoke, and rarely documented, solution developed by Corus for Mowlem Civil Engineering.
Constructed between 1883-1890, the engineering of Jamestown Viaduct, located to the south of the
The challenging Network Rail design brief required the external appearance of the viaduct to remain largely unaltered and specified that critical work should be carried out simultaneously with the planned eight day closure of the
Working in close partnership with Mowlem, Network Rail and Historic Scotland, Corus developed an innovative design concept based on the introduction of a reinforced concrete slab to act compositely with existing trusses and cross girders – one of the few documented instances in which this has been executed on a railway structure.
To achieve this, steel diaphragm panels were installed in the apertures between the cross girders to transfer shear between the slab and the tops of the trusses. Trials carried out in advance verified the feasibility of welding to the existing 19th Century deck plates to function as permanent formwork for the slab. The connection between the new deck slab and structure is provided through 8600 stud connectors.
Clive Roberts, Professional Head of Bridge Design at Corus, comments:
‘This project called on Corus’ technical expertise to develop a highly bespoke solution and deliver it within an extremely tight timeframe. This was only made possible by the close working relationship and positive attitude adopted by the entire supply chain.’
The project involved some 20,000 man hours and required Mowlem to coordinate a complex supply chain involving engineers, plant operators, tradesmen and technicians from all over
