Working with the Public Art Development Trust, Paddington Basin in London is developing its own identity and place. Beautiful artist designed pedestrian bridges over the waterspace have been built, combining modern designs based on traditional concepts.
SKM Anthony Hunts carried out the engineering for an innovative project that enables a 12 metre long steel pedestrian bridge to rise up over a canal inlet and curl into a ball on one side to allow passing water traffic through. At the touch of a button, one end lifts up and the 4.5-ton bridge rolls itself up into a circle.
With the end bay securely fixed to one side of the dock, the remaining seven bays powered by hydraulic rams, push the handrails upwards lifting the bridge and then roll it back to form an enclosed ball. The result is a delicate balance of art, machine and structure.
Designed to open in 180 seconds, the innovative concept was realised by the close cooperation and skills of the design team. Extensively modelled in CAD and exported to Robot analysis software, our team used bridge models for the static analysis, as well as confirmation of the geometry. In addition, using animation tools, a virtual working model was generated to confirm the motion and allow component measurements in any configuration.
The involvement of SKM Anthony Hunts in the Paddington Basin Rolling Bridge brings the following benefits to your Project:
- Innovative engineering design solutions
- Ability to work as a member of the team
- Animated modelling skills.