As part of the Tinsley Viaduct Strengthening Project, Owen Williams Consultants has been highly commended by the Yorkshire Association of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) at their annual award ceremony.
The team, which consisted of Owen Williams, contractor Edmund Nuttall and the Highways Agency picked up their award on the 11th February at the ICE Regional Dinner in Harrogate.
Tinsley Viaduct is a unique and complex structure. The two deck multispan box girder road bridge carries the M1 and A631 over the lower Don Valley, the Sheffield-Keadby canal and three railway lines.
Owen Williams has been responsible for its maintenance since 1986, and in 2001 a major contract to strengthen the viaduct was let to Edmund Nuttall. The design of the works involved extremely complex linear and non-linear finite element analysis, advance contracts to test retrofitted shear studs to verify design assumptions and a number of departures from standards.
The contract contained detailed mechanisms for risk transfers, which have been developed by Owen Williams and have received the support of the Highways Agency’s procurement department. The reason for this transfer being the requirement of the client to ensure price certainty.
The total value of the strenghening works was £80 million.
Owen Williams Business Sector Manager responsible for Highways Agency projects, Andy Milner, was delighted to pick up the ICE award on behalf of his team.