Design of the River Dee Bridge - Aberdeen, UK

The River Dee Bridge is a 270 m long concrete box girder bridge constructed as part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. The detailed design commenced in 2014, with construction finishing in late 2018. The bridge has a mainspan of 120 m and was built using the balanced cantilever construction method. This paper focuses on the design challenges encountered during the detailed design of this structure, particularly associated with the tight geometrical constraints imposed by environmental and aesthetic considerations on the foundations and the superstructure. The post-tensioned tendon design, which was particularly challenging for this relatively narrow and shallow box section, is also discussed.