WALTON BRIDGE - A NEW ARCH BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER THAMES, UK

Walton Bridge is the first road bridge to be built across the River Thames for 22 years but is the sixth bridge to he built at the bridge site since 1750. It is also the first road bridge in the UK to be fully designed and constructed in accordance with the Eurocodes and the matching Euronorms for execution. The main bridge comprises a steel thrust arch with pad foundations supporting a steel-concrete composite ladder deck. The paper will concentrate on the various challenges experienced during the analysis, design and construction, including the learning derived that has been fed back to industry. Two particular issues requiring new research to be carried out on the project will be discussed and were: arch design utilising plastic section properties with reductions to account for the continuously curved steel plating making up the arch ribs. design and specification of bar-tvpe arch hangers for brittle fracture and fatigue, noting that there was insufficient industry guidance on either subject.