A major construction project in Apsley has been recognised with a national engineering award celebrating its excellence.
The Brian Ayling bridge, which spans the West Coast Main Line on Featherbed Lane, has been awarded the Exceptional Merit for Physical Achievement by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
Officially opened in February, the project forms part of wider work led by house builder Bovis Homes to deliver the 325-home Aspen Park development in the town.
Bovis Homes’ regional technical director Chris O’Connor said: “This award is a wonderful way to round out this successful project and is testament to the hard work and expertise of all involved.
“It was a technically demanding installation that was a long time in the making and now that the bridge is open, it’s great to see it playing a vital role in maintaining the flow of traffic into our Aspen Park location.”
Bovis Homes tasked civil engineering company Osborne and its design partner Mott MacDonald to come up with a new design to supplement the existing narrow bridge, which would help alleviate congestion in the area and provide capacity for increased traffic flow to and from the new homes.
The new bridge weighs more than 190 tonnes and was constructed off-site before being lifted into place overnight by a specialist 600-tonne Demag CC2800 crawler crane. The project cost more than £8million to complete.
At the official opening, a plaque was unveiled, revealing that the bridge had been named in honour of Dacorum borough councillor Brian Ayling, who played a key role in bringing the project to fruition.
The ICE East of England Merit Awards are an annual opportunity to mark excellence in civil engineering. Projects within the region that have been completed in the previous year are entered and visited by a panel of judges.
Picture courtesy of Bovis Homes
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