Excellence Award Arup Consulting Engineers

Limerick University Living Bridge, Limerick, Ireland

The UL Living Bridge is a newly constructed pedestrian bridge on the campus of the University of Limerick in midwestern Ireland, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Arup. Context The bridge is a key component of the University of Limericks expansion from its established campus on the south bank of the Shannon to its new annexe on the opposing bank in County Clare. The north bank had been opened up for development in 2004 by the 150m salmon tail road bridge, also by Arup with Murray OLaoire Architects. 420m further upstream, the Living Bridge is placed at the heart of the campus to provide a direct pedestrian route between academic faculties and student residences, spanning across the river and its floodplains at relatively low level. The river corridor at the site is composed of a unique and sensitive riparian landscape of International importance. The Shannons flow is considerably reduced by a hydro-electric diversion upstream, and the river here is a wide shallow waterway fragmented by islands of woodland growth in the channel which both increases and disguises its width. The river and campus are almost entirely invisible from each other and the experience of engaging with the hidden world of the river landscape is central to the design, which forms an organic and iterative relationship with the site. Design The bridge takes a 350m long curved alignment on a 300m radius in 6 equal spans, each comprising an independent bridge structure crossing between table-like pier sections. The most southerly span crosses the pedestrian riverside walk and its environs. The central spans cross a secondary parallel waterway on the south side, and the river itself, whilst the most northerly span crosses the boggy floodplain. Each separate bridge deck waists at centre span and swells towards the pier locations. The bridge decks combine with the shaped pier sections to form a long pulsating geometry that binds the six independent structures into a coherent whole. The horizontal alignment is arranged such that each river pier is coincident with one of the wooded islands in the channel. The pier footings provide a seamless extension of the islands, and act as cutwaters to protect against erosion and movement of these transient landscape features. From the riverbanks and the campus, the bridge is seen not as a continuum, but as a series of short bridges spanning between tree clusters. For the pedestrian, the islands are effectively stepping stones, connected with spans in the manner of an ancient clapper bridge. Each bridge spans a separate channel and connects to the next tree cluster. From each end the curving deck is seen to disappear into the landscape, without sight of the opposing end and the bridge user is enclosed within the natural environment of the river corridor. Views of the destination unfold as the journey across the bridge progresses. A key component of the Universitys brief was to provide an environment for enjoyment of the river landscape, as well as a linear connection between the two halves of the campus. In response, the outside edge of the curved deck is a continuous and parallel sided aluminium walkway providing a sinuous pedestrian fast lane On the inside of the curve, the deck is surfaced in a bonded aggregate finish and comprises a series of linked deck plates tapering from a point at each centre span to a wide gathering space at pier locations. These gathering spaces feature seating and shelter against the backdrop of the tree canopy, to provide students with an off-campus location for informal meeting and study. The University speculates that a major performing arts centre planned for the northern end of the bridge will result in spill-out rehearsal and impromptu performance on the bridge itself, giving rise to the Living Bridge project title. Superstructure Suspension-based structures are often found in the natural world, utilizing the tensile properties of slender filament elements. The fluid shapes described by a catenary system and skeletal silhouette supporting a slender bridge deck are therefore evocative of forms found in nature. Such bridges have a light appearance and as such have minimal visual impact on the beauty of the natural domain within which they are placed. However, structures of this sort are often characterized by the tall masts or pylons, which support the cables from which the bridge deck is hung. It was felt that this sort of intervention into the landscape was not appropriate for this location. The tall pylons would be seen throughout the site. A bridge of this sort would therefore be making a bold statement

declaring its presence to the rest of the university and beyond. By highlighting the crossing to a wider context, the river would no longer maintain its identity as a distinctive hidden location. It is for this reason that a more restrained structural response has been adopted. The load-bearing structure of the bridge is located below the level of the bridge deck in the form of a cable truss arrangement. The structure does not disrupt the tree-line or try to make a statement about how man has overcome the boundaries of the natural domain. The bridge is carefully integrated into the landscape and does not form a trajectory that is thrust through it. The experience for the bridge user is therefore not about reaching a destination on the other side of the river but is an enjoyable social interaction with nature. The cable truss arrangement is subtle and relies on the interplay between cables, deck and parapet to affording pedestrians unobstructed views of the river.

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The bridge is formed from a string of six independent cable-truss spans, each 44m in length. The tensile chords supporting the bridge deck from beneath consist of 3No. 40mm diameter spiral strand cables. Inclined profiled steel compression struts spaced at 2.2m centres along the span, transfer the applied loading from the bridge deck into the cables utilising clamps at the base of each strut. The top compression chord of the cable truss consists of a 245mm diameter circular hollow steel section which is continuously curved along the entire length of the bridge to form the pulsating geometry that binds the six independent structures together. The bridge deck consists of a series of longitudinal Tee beams which span between transverse girders placed at 2.2m centres along the bridge deck. The longitudinal Tee beams are set out in a facetted arrangement beneath the deck which reflects the continuously curved profile of the overall bridge form. 42mm diameter tensioned steel bars run diagonally between adjacent transverse girders beneath the level of the longitudinal Tee beams. These tensioned bars provide lateral stiffness to the bridge deck essential to the dynamic performance of the structure. The combination of the under-slung cables, the edge circular hollow section compression members being curved on plan, the varying width of the bridge deck and constant inclination of the compression struts translate to the edges of the structure appearing to gently undulate in the vertical plane. This causes the handrail and bridge deck to meander gracefully as they traverse the water, imparting a sense of effortless fluidity to the bridge. Piers Because of the dense and mature planting on the riverbanks and on the islands, it is difficult to gain a vantage point whereby the whole of the crossing can be viewed at once. This factor has further informed the multiple spanning arrangement of the bridge. Each of the six spans can be appreciated as a discrete crossing in its own right, forming a composition in the landscape that has human scale and that is more visually balanced than a larger span that can only be viewed in increments. The six spans are visually articulated as a series of individual leaps from pier to pier. This arrangement is expressive of the manner in which the bridge spans from island to island, and is evocative of a stone skimming across the water. Between individual spans, the bridge is supported from sculpted steel piers. The bridge deck is widened at these locations so that natural node points are created. Hardwood timber seating placed at the node points presents the bridge user with an ideal opportunity to rest and appreciate the unique natural beauty of this environment. Thus, the purely functional requirements of spanning a void are superseded, and the bridge no longer simply facilitates movement between two separated places, but becomes a destination in its own right. It is more than a simple transition through nature, but has become a series of unique gathering spaces to appreciate the natural environment. The piers that support the bridge at each refuge location have been designed to minimise the impact at ground level. The four support columns are raked and combine at ground level in a "tetrapod" arrangement that minimises the size of the pile cap and the impact on surrounding planting. The bridge therefore appears to "tip-toe" through the natural environment with minimal disruption. Each raking column of the tetrapod is formed by cutting a 406mm diameter circular hollow steel section into four

pieces and then welding individual tapered steel plates to the four segments of the circular hollow section, thereby forming the sculpted piers. The end support bearings for each of the 44m spans are placed on top of the raking columns whilst the deck structure at the pier locations acts to tie the four discrete raking arms together, thus forming a rigid stable node module. Each intermediate steel tetrapod is geometrically and structurally identical in every aspect, as are the two end tetrapod units, which greatly simplified the fabrication of these modules. The plan alignment of the bridge along the deck centreline is facetted and changes angle by a fixed rotation at each node point. This is achieved by placing the raking arms of the tetrapod in an asymmetrical arrangement and thus enabling the spans either side of the node to change direction. The edges of the bridge deck are continuously curved, as is the aluminium walkway and handrail. Thus the designers have ingeniously achieved the seemingly conflicting desire for a sweeping curved alignment and a repetitive structural form in which every component of the six spans is geometrically identical. Dynamic Characteristics The slender lightweight form of each span presented the designers with a number of challenges to overcome, particularly in respect to the dynamic performance of the deck. Tension bars beneath the walkway surface were adopted to greatly increase the lateral stiffness of the deck, increasing the fundamental frequency of horizontal vibration to 1.9Hz and avoiding any potential for synchronous lateral excitation.

The vertical dynamic performance of the bridge spans was assessed against the criteria in BS 5400 Part 2 and in addition response factors were calculated using an Oasys GSA footfall analysis. A response factor of one equates to the ratio of actual acceleration to the acceleration that a human can just perceive at that frequency. In pedestrian bridge design, it is the role of the designer to determine an acceptable level of response factor given the location, environment and Client requirements for the structure. In the case of the Living Bridge, a response factor below 64 was considered to be acceptable. It was the desire of the designers that the bridge users would experience some small vertical acceleration of the bridge deck as they walk from node to node, such that the users would appreciate that they were no longer waking on terra firma but were walking on a physical structure spanning over water. The dynamic analysis of the spans indicated that the first two modes of vibration were in the vertical plane, having a frequency of 1.3Hz and 1.5Hz respectively. Since humans walk at a frequency between 1.0Hz and 2.8Hz, and a typical walking rate is 1.6Hz, so these vertical modes are subject to single person excitation. The predicted maximum response factor was calculated as 20. As the second vertical mode of frequency is close to typical walking frequencies, so it was anticipated that the bridge user would experience a small degree of acceleration. Prior to the bridge opening, each deck span was dynamically tested to confirm the frequencies of the modes of vibration less than 2.8Hz, to assess the actual damping of the spans and to measure the response to a single person walking at critical frequencies on one span. The results of this testing confirmed that all the spans behaved in a similar manner and that the maximum recorded response factor was 16, well below the acceptable value of

64. The calculated damping of 0.2% of critical was surprisingly low however and considerably lower than the value of 0.48% given BS 5400 Part 2. Construction The bridge is situated within a Special Area of Conservation which contains protected spawning grounds for a number of fish species and supports ancient Riparian woodland. Consequently all In-River works were confined to an environmental window of 2.5 months in which the permanent piling and pilecap construction were to be completed, in addition to all temporary works construction associated with the bridge erection. At the planning stage, the designers had to develop a detailed construction methodology for the structure to convince the planning authorities and the National Parks and Wildlife Service that the bridge could be constructed safely and with negligible impact on the existing environment. This resulted in the designers proposing the use of a temporary bridge running parallel to the permanent structure, which would act as a platform from which the permanent piles could be installed and which would later facilitate the erection of the bridge spans. It was proposed that five of the bridge spans would be constructed in a compound located on the northern river bank and that the southern land span would be constructed offset and adjacent to the permanent structure. The five spans to be constructed in the northern compound would then be jacked off their temporary supports and driven into position across the temporary bridge, from where a tandem crane lift would be undertaken to position the spans on the permanent structure. The Contractor chose to adopt this methodology, but rather than constructing the temporary bridge on steel tubular piles, proposed a temporary steel bridge founded on stone gabions which could be placed directly on top of the river bed. Since the placement of the gabions resulted in minimal disturbance of the river bed compared to driving steel piles, the National Parks and Wildlife Service permitted the Contractor to build the temporary bridge prior to the commencement of the environmental window and thereby mitigate the greatest risk to the construction programme. The bridge piers are founded on single 1.8m diameter bored in-situ piles, approximately 22m long with a 2.5m deep rock socket into the competent limestone bedrock. The ground conditions at this location are challenging due to the presence of very stiff boulder clay and highly weathered karst limestone before reaching the competent bedrock. The steelwork fabrication was undertaken by Eiffel and their subcontractor Viry in the East of France, whilst the machining of the 204 cable clamps and the supply of the tension bars was undertaken by HCB of France and 1500m of spiral strand cable was manufactured by Redaelli of Italy. Eiffel elected to fabricate modular steel components in readily transportable sections in France to transport the modules to Limerick, having first undertaken a trial assembly and geometric check in the fabrication shop. The steelwork components were then lifted and assembled on top of temporary falsework placed in the site compound. Welding and painting five of the bridge spans within the site compound provided a safe working environment and allowed the Contractor to work in controlled conditions throughout a wet winter and yet maintain a very high quality of workmanship. This method of working also enabled the Contractor to place all of the aluminium walkway deck, the parapet posts, stainless steel cover plates and light fittings prior to the bridge spans being erected. Following completion of the painting works, the spiral strand cables were installed and a nominal tension applied. Hydraulic jacks were then adopted to lift the ends of the bridge deck, lifting the structure clear of the temporary trestle supports until the span was self supporting, with the weight of the deck inducing tension into the cables. Each of the 44m spans was then transported from the site compound using a self propelled multi-axle vehicle transporter unit positioned beneath the ends of each span. The vehicle transporters drove each span in turn along the temporary bridge to a position parallel and offset from the permanent bridge alignment. Finally, the tandem crane lift was undertaken to position each 100 tonne span on top of the tetrapod supports. Following erection of the bridge spans, the remainder of the finishes were applied to the bridge deck working from the permanent walkway and avoided the need for any temporary platforms to be underslung form the cable truss structure. Conclusion The University of Limerick commissioned Arup and Wilkinson Eyre Architects to create a living link between the established and developing campuses either side of the River Shannon, to be of the highest engineering and architectural quality, reflecting the Universitys ethos of academic excellence within an inspiring campus environment. The minimalist structural form developed by the designers has enabled the bridge to blend seamlessly into the

natural beauty of this domain, unveiling the hidden world of the river landscape. Since opening in November 2007, the bridge has become a destination in its own right, acting as a focal point for social interaction within the University campus.

350m long pedestrian bridge on 300m radius curved alignment. 6 no. steel cable-truss spans of 44m. 5 no. 8m long pier sections comprising a steel tetrapod support and deck. Each span waists from 6m walkway deck width at ends to 3m at centre forming pulsating geometry Deck comprises continuous 2.6m wide aluminium surface traffic lane, and intermittent variable-width 3mm thick aggregate surface 'gathering' zones. Refuges at pier locations feature stainless steel and hardwood cumaru benches and backlit 2.5m high inclined glazed shelters. University of Limerick Arup Wilkinson Kerin Contract Eyre Architects Management

CLIENT: ENGINEER: ARCHITECT: PM:

CONTRACTOR: Eiffel Construction Mtallique with L&M Keating Construction