The new Pooley Bridge has been named the best civil engineering project in the country.
The bridge, built by Preston’s Eric Wright Civil Engineering, was announced as the winner at the Constructing Excellence UK awards in London on Friday night.
Opening in 2020, it replaced the original grade II listed structure which spanned the River Eamont over 250 years, before it was destroyed during Storm Desmond in 2015.
The damage left drivers facing a 16-mile detour to navigate and separated the village of Pooley Bridge from its main source of visitors and farmers from their pastures.
The bridge has attracted widespread national and international interest and has already won numerous awards from the civil engineering, construction and architectural industries.
Commissioned by Cumbria County Council, it is the UK’s first stainless steel road traffic bridge, built with unanimous community backing. Its innovative stainless-steel structure is built to cope with any future flooding and is designed to respect the Lake District’s UNESCO World Heritage and SSSI status.
Designed following a lengthy community consultation programme, the 40m single-span bridge respects the history of the area, providing unhindered views and minimising water flow obstruction.
Commenting on the win Diane Bourne managing director of Eric Wright Civil Engineering said: “Since completion Pooley Bridge has won many awards and we are so proud that it has now been named as the best civil engineering project in the country.
“The new bridge is an extraordinary example of the community, the landscape and the contractors working in harmony to provide an outstanding and relevant new bridge for the local region. We are delighted that the judges have recognised how much the new bridge means to the people of Cumbria whose lives were severely affected by Storm Desmond.”
Over 250 people and over 10,000 hours
Over 250 people were involved in the project, working more than 10,000 hours. Some 80 tonnes of stainless steel, 2,000 tonnes of concrete and 650 square metres of locally sourced stone were used as part of the construction programme.
Described as the Jewel in the Crown of Cumbria County Council’s Infrastructure Recovery Programme and the ‘Peoples’ Bridge’ the bridge, it is designed to be flood resilient and comply with Environment Agency regulations.
Councillor Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport said: “I’m absolutely delighted that the new Pooley Bridge has been recognised with yet more well-deserved national and regional awards. The council and our partners worked hard to repair the widespread damage to our highways and structures following Storm Desmond and the new Pooley Bridge was one of the last major projects to be completed.
“I’d like to thank all our contractors for creating a fantastic new structure, and I’d also like to thank the local community in Pooley Bridge who worked with us through the design stages and throughout the construction. The awards are testament to the skills and innovation of all involved, and the iconic new bridge is something we can all be very proud of and will attract many more visitors in the years to come.”
The project partners included bridge specialists Knight Architects, GHD and Mott MacDonald.
