ENGINEERING YOUR SOLUTIONs

issue TWENTY HBPWnews Welcome Cor! What A Bridge For ! HBPW completed a platform and a smaller one to the station bridge for the next major exercise in ‘value the other, also boasted a total 100 years, only this time the engineering’ when they were of 12 columns, 10 on the larger steel structure should last a invited to give a 19th century staircase and two on the little longer,” added James. railway bridge a 21st century smaller side. The Newcastle and makeover. “As part of the project we were Railway was formed in 1829, Corbridge railway station able to reduce programme and was opened in stages, serves the town of Corbridge time by replacing the piled the first section opening for in , and is foundations with a reinforced passenger trains between located on the Tyne Valley Line concrete raft foundation which and in running between Newcastle reduced programme time and 1835. Corbridge was an and Carlisle. costs on the project. intermediate station on that line, situated between Riding Paul Withers - Director James said that piled Managed by Northern Rail, the Mill and Hexham. small station, which boasts foundations were normally around 80,000 passengers used in weaker ground, Before the development Dear Reader a year, features a listed however, ground of effective methods of So far it has been a year footbridge which spans the rail investigations, had indicated steelmaking and the availability of extremes! Early on in line, linking two platforms. that the ‘concrete’ solution of large quantities of steel, 2013 Persimmon and Bovis was achievable at Corbridge. wrought iron was the most HBPW design engineer, James were reporting an increase The project took around six common form of malleable iron. Cable, said: “The bridge was in average selling prices, months to complete. made of wrought iron and had, prompting beliefs that over the decades, deteriorated, “Many of these old bridges Client: the UK was on its way out so AMCO Rail, in partnership have huge historic value Contractor: AMCO Rail Ltd of recession. with Network Rail contacted locally, hence the need for an identical On the weather front we had HBPW to take the design of the looking structure, the worst March for 50 years new bridge forward through the and it is always with snow into Easter, Cyprus construction phase.” nice to know that was at near collapse, and The original structure, which we are playing our Moody’s Investor Services had a large staircase on one part in preparing stripped the UK of its AAA credit rating. But all’s well at HBPW despite the merchants of doom peddling their wares!

Take a look at the HBPW blog and you’ll see just how busy we’ve been (www.hbpw. Corbridge Footbridge co.uk) and, in this edition, Weathered By Time you can read about some of our latest projects including HBPW’s major exercise in value engineering on Corbridge railway station’s 19th century bridge in Northumberland. Hopefully our work will last another century! A Revamp for Corbridge Footbridge Continued on back page ENGINEERING YOUR SOLUTIONs

Center Of The Action Client: Center Parcs Contractor: Birse Civils One of the strongest leisure Gaming Software brands in the UK, Center Parcs, has been working with 3ds Max HBPW and infrastructure Software contractor, Birse Civils, on Helps HBPW Design its new £250m complex at Woburn Forest near Milton Keynes. Hi-tech 3D modeling software which has He said: “Until recently we had only been will look like before they have even left been the industry standard in Computer using Sketchup to create 3D visuals for the paper. The infrastructure of the new Generated Imagery (CGI) for years, is clients, which although accessible and holiday village, the fifth to be now playing a major part in HBPW’s powerful in its own right, has its limitations. “This is not only key to tendering but, built in the UK and one of the A Center Parcs Complex visualisation work. from a client perspective, gives them far largest leisure projects in the “3ds Max takes us to a new level. It is greater comprehension of how complicated country, is being developed by engineering firm, Hannah Reed, anything to go by, this will go sympathetically within the forest Senior Engineer Alastair Reid is overseeing becoming increasingly popular and has schemes will evolve and look in the Birse Civils’ Northampton office. however, Birse Civils asked on to become one of the UK’s environment. its roots in the film and gaming industries, final event.” During the early part of the HBPW to design the service leading leisure villages.” the implementation of 3ds Max software It will take 1,500 people to build meaning that we can now produce visual construction phase service roads and a number of the site’s into the firm. The existing four Center Parcs the Woburn Forest complex and representations of what finished projects Alastair said the new software also had a roads needed building so that major retaining walls, which are set in 400 acres of beautiful a further 1,500 people to run it number of practical applications. contractors could access and were up to 10 metres high and forest with lakes and streams, once it has been completed in “Sometimes you can find yourself in exit the site, which is set in 365 utilised secant piles. and each features restaurants, spring 2014. a situation where individuals object to acres of forest and will feature a something on the basis that they perceive “Most of the service roads cafes and shops as well as 17,000m² lake. Center Parcs has just it will be detrimental to the environment. will continue to be used once indoor and outdoor activities. celebrated 25 years of success However, by producing a visual, we are Chartered engineer, Mark the site has opened. It is Woburn Forest will boast 625 in the UK and has been the UK often able to allay fears by showing that the Partridge from HBPW, said: always good to be involved in lodges, a 75 bedroom hotel. market leader for family short image in the person’s mind is not always “The main design for the project prestigious projects and if the The site has seven miles of break holidays for many years. the reality,” he added. Planners also profit was done by civil and structural other four Center Parcs are roadways in total, created from good animations.

“Good 3D visualisations can certainly aid the planning process,” added Alastair, HBPW Makes History With National Trust “and, where projects are particularly complicated – bridge sections, for One of Britain’s most historic vision of coal baron George locate them was on the lowest But the project wasn’t without Visualisation on 3ds Max Software instance, might need replacing – we can National Trust sites has been Bowes. end of the grounds which its challenges. “Due to the use sequencing animations to show how getting a helping hand from meant a pedestrian access poor ground conditions and the old structure will be removed ahead of After centuries of decline, it is HBPW, with the development walkway was required from the difficult access a driven steel the new one being lifted into place. slowly being restored for people parking area to the wider visitor of an elevated walkway and nature and, as part of the mini pile foundation solution attractions and the grand hall, “3ds Max helps us bring people’s that now links its new car on-going initiative, new car was adopted. Pile installation now just a shell. imaginations to life in a positive way, so parks with the main visitor parks have been constructed was achieved through the use use of this software will be good for the attractions. to accommodate greater visitor Principal Engineer Dian of a hand positioned pneumatic firm. People are asking for it more and numbers. Coleman, said: “The walkway is hammer or mini digger Gibside Hall, which is more and we are now in a position to meet approximately attachment allowing access to located near Rowlands Gill at However, client needs.” 100m long. even the most difficult sloping in the North East, is the only The deck and locations. a Georgian ‘grand design’ on available balustrades a spectacular scale, and the space to are constructed “Fortunately, we managed from Opepe to overcome all obstacles to timber hardwood produce what is now a major which, through addition and feature of Gibside its natural durability, Hall,” he added. can achieve the required The design and build contract design life for was led by Owen Pugh with the structure and also blends HBPW acting as engineers. sympathetically with the forest landscape. The timber walkway is elevated up to 5m above the Client: National Trust forest floor by steel ‘goal posts’ Contractor: Owen Pugh This and above: 3d Models of the Elevated Walkway supports.” Specialist Timber supplier: Heritage 3ds Max Software at Work ENGINEERING YOUR SOLUTIONs

HBPW LLP, 43 Bridgegate, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 7UX Tel: 01777 869 896 Fax: 01777 862 491 Email: [email protected] www.hbpw.co.uk HBPWnews Fish Pass The Quality Test! Continued from page 1 Meadowhall’s fish in Sheffield are also having an easier time thanks to Dian Coleman’s work on the multi species fish and eel pass at Hadfield Weir, whilst Alastair Reid is now keenly promoting hi- tech 3d modeling software within the firm. By overseeing the implementation of 3ds Max software, HBPW can now offer clients an even more sophisticated visual representation of what finished projects will look like before they have even left the paper.

The range and diversity of This and right: Making life easier for fish! The new fish pass our work never ceases to amaze, none more so than at Eels and fish in South Yorkshire are having a “At the time of construction the National Trust’s Gibside much easier life thanks to a multi-agency river rainfall was very heavy and, as we anticipated, Hall in Northumberland where project which HBPW has played a key role in. it flooded on a number of occasions, but no a new elevated walkway is damage was done and work resumed after flood testimony to the HBPW team’s The Don Catchment Rivers Trust (DCRT) secured waters were pumped out. The project finished on engineering skills. After funding from the Environment Agency to install schedule with no major losses.” a multi-species fish and eel pass on the Hadfield centuries of decline, the hall Weir at Meadowhall in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The pass was installed as part of the strategic is slowly being restored for objective to restore the ability of fish and other people and nature and, as HBPW Principal Engineer, Dian Coleman, who creatures to move more freely within the river part of the on-going initiative, carried out the detailed design and temporary system, and took two years for directors of the new car parks have been works, said: “A weir is a barrier across a river Don Catchment Rivers Trust to bring to fruition. designed to alter the flow characteristics, constructed to accommodate however, the negative effect of that process is “In terms of the structural aspects it was greater visitor numbers. that fish are no longer able to migrate up river to relatively simple, with the main challenges their spawning grounds. being constructability and achieving the desired However, the only available aesthetic appearance and functionality, however, space to locate them was “Fish passes, as the name implies, are installed it is a major step forward in enhancing the on the lowest end of the to help fish make their way up river. The type biodiversity of the river,” added Dian. installed at Meadowhall was a Larinier fish pass grounds which meant an elevated pedestrian access which uses a series of precisely positioned The fish pass initial design was undertaken by walkway was required from plates, or ‘baffles’, to dissipate energy from the consultants, Mike & Matt Beach. The project was water flowing down a formed channel, reducing delivered on a Design and Build basis by A Torn the parking area to the wider the average water velocity and allowing the fish to Construction, for whom HBPW acted as civil visitor attractions. pass more readily.” engineering designer in conjunction with Fishtek But the project, which cost several hundred who undertook the detailed hydrological design Read all about it! thousand pounds, was not without its challenges. of the fish pass. The project was managed by Turner & Townsend on behalf of the DCRT. “A temporary cofferdam was constructed out of bulk sand bags to allow the area to be drained, but it was not economically possible to build a Paul Withers temporary dam high enough to withstand high Client: The Don Catchment Rivers Trust (DCRT) Director river flows experienced after periods of Contractor: A Torn Construction Ltd HBPW Consulting prolonged rain. Specialist Fisheries Consultant: Fishtek Consulting