 |
|
Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's a bridge!
April 02, 2008A government lab in Teddington has taken on its biggest sample for analysis to date - a 14 tonne foot-bridge.
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement standards, science and technology. For over 100 years it has been the UK's National Measurement Institute and provides highly accurate measurement and analysis for public and private sector benefit alike.
The "sample" was a 14 tonne footbridge that is 20 metres long and 5 metres high and has been used to allow access from one side of the NPL site to the other for the last 46 years. With redevelopment of the NPL site this bridge has become redundant. Rather than demolish the bridge, and in the spirit of recycling, NPL scientists have used this unique opportunity to run a project using the old bridge to improve civil engineering structures.
Before this could begin the small matter of needing to move the massive bridge across the site away from the demolition zone needed to be addressed. Moving such a structure is unusual and was expertly carried out by Burton Smith and Beck and Pollitzer who used a 250 tonne capacity crane that extended nearly 50 metres into the sky.
After lifting the bridge it was then trailered across the NPL site, with essential co-operation from LGC, taking an hour to travel the quarter mile earlier this year, squeezing around tight turns and under trees before being lifted above existing buildings to its final resting place.
The bridge will be used as a demonstrator to try out different techniques for monitoring structures for a government project to encourage UK industry and UK infrastructure to use monitoring to maximise the lifetime and minimise maintenance costs for civil engineering structures.
During the three year project the bridge will be loaded until it cracks, repaired using new composite repair methods and then retested. The opportunity to have a large scale structure that can be abused in this way whilst being monitored is a once in a lifetime event and will provide evidence for the cost saving benefits of structural health monitoring.
National Physical Laboratory
Before this could begin the small matter of needing to move the massive bridge across the site away from the demolition zone needed to be addressed. Moving such a structure is unusual and was expertly carried out by Burton Smith and Beck and Pollitzer who used a 250 tonne capacity crane that extended nearly 50 metres into the sky.
After lifting the bridge it was then trailered across the NPL site, with essential co-operation from LGC, taking an hour to travel the quarter mile earlier this year, squeezing around tight turns and under trees before being lifted above existing buildings to its final resting place.
The bridge will be used as a demonstrator to try out different techniques for monitoring structures for a government project to encourage UK industry and UK infrastructure to use monitoring to maximise the lifetime and minimise maintenance costs for civil engineering structures.
During the three year project the bridge will be loaded until it cracks, repaired using new composite repair methods and then retested. The opportunity to have a large scale structure that can be abused in this way whilst being monitored is a once in a lifetime event and will provide evidence for the cost saving benefits of structural health monitoring.
National Physical Laboratory
Lightweight, high resistance synthetic fibres to save historic buildings and monuments
Many of Europe's historic buildings, monuments and civil engineering structures are gradually decaying. Already weakened by age, they are damaged by earth tremors, pollution and traffic vibration. And this is more than just a cultural problem. Continual maintenance is extremely costly and obtrusive, not least because of its negative impact upon tourism and traffic. Conventional rehabilitation methods using wooden or steel buttresses, tie rods and scaffolding supports dominate the landscape and usually do not offer a long term, durable solution. But EUREKA project COMREHAB has developed new techniques to strengthen masonry, wood and concrete buildings using carbon-fibre strips instead of stee
New Method for Measuring Residual Stress Developed at Oxford
An inventor in Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science has developed a new portable instrument for the measurement of residual stress in engineering components and structures.
Why Are We Making Such A Meal Of Our Nuclear Waste?
Lord Oxburgh, President of the Geological Society of London [Note 1] and Chairman of the House of Lords Science & Technology Committee, will try to answer this question and propose a solution today in his final Presidential Address to the Society. You are invited to hear him speak at 1600 on Thursday 2 May at the Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. (Please contact Dr Ted Nield if you wish to attend. There will be no transcript.) Previewing his address, Lord Oxburgh writes in the April issue of the Society's monthly magazine Geoscientist: "The radioactive products of civil and military programmes over the last half-century are currently held in temporary surface sto
More Engineering Structures Current Events and Engineering Structures News Articles
 | Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students by T. H. G. Megson 'Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students' provides a completely self contained course in aircraft structures, which includes discussion on the fundamentals of elasticity and aircraft structural analysis, as well as the associated topics of airworthiness and aeroelasticity. Although much of the basic material is timeless, the author has updated the text throughout, including new material on... |
 | Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students, Fourth Edition (Elsevier Aerospace Engineering) by T.H.G. Megson Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students is the leading self contained aircraft structures course text. It covers all fundamental subjects, including elasticity, structural analysis, airworthiness and aeroelasticity. Now in its fourth edition, the author has revised and updated the text throughout and added new case study and worked example material to make the text even more accessible.... |
 | Marine Structures Engineering: Specialized applications by Gregory Tsinker Marine Structures Engineering is designed to help engineers meet the growing worldwide demand for construction of new ports and the modernization of existing ports and terminals. It provides an authoritative guide to the design, construction, rehabilitation, repair, and maintenance of port and harbor structures. Each chapter is self-contained, allowing readers to access specific... |
 | Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering by Anil K. Chopra This second edition includes many topics encompassing the theory of structural dynamics and the application of this theory regarding earthquake analysis, response, and design of structures. Covers the inelastic design spectrum to structural design; energy dissipation devices; Eurocode; theory of dynamic response of structures; structural dynamics theory; and more. Ideal for readers interested... |
 | Modeling Complex Engineering Structures by Robert Melchers & Richard Hough (Editors) Developments in numerical methods and higher-speed computing are providing rapid advances in the analysis and design of complex structures so rapid that it can be difficult for engineers to keep abreast of this expanding knowledge. Modeling Complex Engineering Structures provides an overview of cutting-edge developments in computational theory and techniques as currently applied in various... |
 | C & Data Structures (Electrical and Computer Engineering Series) by P S Deshpande, O G Kakde Divided into three separate sections, C & Data Structures covers C programming, as well as the implementation of data structures and an analysis of advanced data structure problems. Beginning with the basic concepts of the C language (including the operators, control structures, and functions), the book progresses to show these concepts through practical application with data structures such as... |
 | Shape and Structure, from Engineering to Nature by Adrian Bejan Seemingly universal geometric forms unite the flow systems of engineering and nature. In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan considers the design and optimization of engineered systems and discovers a relationship to the generation of geometric form in natural systems. The idea that shape and structure spring from the struggle for better performance in both engineering and nature is the... |
 | Engineering Materials Technology: Structures, Processing, Properties, and Selection (5th Edition) by James Jacobs, Thomas Kilduff Engineering Materials Technology continues to cover basic concepts in materials science, engineering and technology dealing with traditional as well as advanced materials. In addition to coverage of metals, polymers, ceramics and composites, the book offers introductions to emerging technologies such as micro/nano technology, environmentally friendly processes and products, smart and morphing... |
 | Waves and Wave Forces on Coastal and Ocean Structures (Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering) by Robert T. Hudspeth This important book focuses on :the physics of the fundamental dynamics of fluids and of semi-immersed Lagrangian solid bodies that are responding to wave-induced... |
 | Computation Structures (MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) by Stephen A. Ward, Robert H. Halstead Developed as the text for the basic computer architecture course at MIT, Computation Structures integrates a thorough coverage of digital logic design with a comprehensive presentation of computer architecture. It contains a wealth of information for those who design computers or work with computer systems, spanning the entire range of topics from analog circuit design to operating systems. Ward... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |