SPECIAL FEATURE: MATERIALS
AUSSIE’S BUILD A BRIDGE
NOT TOO FAR – CHEAPER AND FASTER
An engineering breakthrough that can reduce major urban bridgeworks projects from months or even
years to just three days is set to save time, money and inconvenience worldwide.
An innovative hybrid fiberglass-concrete-steel
bridge construction technique created by a team
led by University of Queensland engineers has
won the inaugural World Innovation in Bridge
Engineering (WIBE) award.
UQ Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and
Information Technology researcher Dr Dilum
Fernando says the bridge was lighter, stronger and
faster to put up than anything currently available.
"The $50,000 award, announced in Portugal,
recognises our design as a game-changer,
24 July 2018
coming in ahead of designs involving more than
200 authors from 50 countries," he says.
Dr Fernando, from the School of Civil Engineering,
says the bridge design used a double-skin tubular
arch system.
“It is three times as strong as conventional
reinforced concrete bridges, yet only a third of the
weight.
“Because it’s light, the bridge can be pre-fabricated
and transported to site where it can be put up
in about 72 hours.
"This means projects that previously caused up to
six months of disruption can now be completed in
just three days."
The design team included Brisbane-based
company RocketC, global engineering consultancy
Arup and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
The project came about when RocketC’s Paul
Rodman approached Dr Fernando.
“Constructing road or rail overpasses on existing
roads is extremely expensive and time-consuming,”
Mr Rodman says.
“It can require extensive property resumptions and
road construction to allow the traffic to continue
operating while the overpass is constructed.
“Construction times are long — as an example,
an overpass bridge on Main and Kessel Roads in
Brisbane took three years to complete and cost
$300 million.”
The team approached Arup to make sure
engineering issues were addressed in the
development.
Arup fellow Peter Burnton says the research would
solve many challenges faced in the construction of
bridges in our communities.
“This project has also given excellent practical
experience to many students who have helped
fabricate, test and interpret the test results in the
fantastic laboratories at UQ,” he says.