The Design and Construction of the Stadium Footbridge, St Helens, Uk

Flint & Neill prepared the concept design and completed the detailed design of a new pedestrian and cycle bridge which crosses a dual carriageway - providing a link between the new St Helens combined rugby and football stadium and an adjoining retail development to the adjacent city centre. The bridge was procured under a design and build contract with the aim of providing a landmark structure in fitting with the aspiration to redevelop the area and to act as a catalyst for further urban regeneration.

The Stadium Footbridge is 60m long and features a dramatic parabolic arch. The bridge is one of the first in the UK to be designed and completed to Eurocodes. The deck is a closed steel box and is suspended from the arch by flat plate hangers. Extensive studies were undertaken to verify the dynamic performance of the bridge, particularly under crowd loading. This led to the provision of tuned mass dampers in the deck with the facility to retrofit additional dampers in the arches, if found to be necessary.

Three dimensional modelling was used during the planning stage to develop realistic images of the finished structure and at the detailing and fabrication stage so as to deal with the complex geometry of the bridge. Flint & Neill provided technical support to the contractor through the construction phase including liaison with the fabricator, specialist piling sub-contractor and tuned mass damper supplier.

The bridge opened in January 2012.