A low carbon bridge over the River Thames, London, UK

The construction industry must make a concerted effort to reduce its carbon footprint. This initiative for carbon reduction should supplement the social and economic benefits that infrastructure projects offer. A proposition project was initiated to design a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Thames in London with a carbon target of 250 kgCO2e/m2, whilst not compromising the functionality of the bridge. To this end, the Nine Elms to Pimlico site, in London, was chosen as our challenge. The project has shown that a low carbon bridge over the river is feasible, although achieving an upfront carbon of less than 250 kgCO2e/m2 proved to be too ambitious for this bridge with current design constraints. The need for unconventional materials, technologies and design processes has been identified. A reduction of 75% was achieved by redesigning the superstructure, to reach the targeted carbon further work is needed on the substructure and foundations.