Bridges

Arup drew upon its local and global engineering skills and design excellence to develop and deliver a key focal point of Perth’s prestigious new waterfront development, Elizabeth Quay, to our client, MRA’s, delight and widespread acclaim. A key client aim was for aesthetic simplicity while enhancing and completing the entire Quay project, framing and providing spectacular views of the city and river. The twin steel arch bridge with slender steel box deck is wide enough for pedestrians and cyclists to use simultaneously. The deck grade allows for public ferries to pass safely beneath while complying with the universal access requirements on the bridge.

Arup worked closely with the MRA and entire project team to develop bridge options within the many aspirations and constraints. Ferry clearance beneath the bridge was a key constraint and Arup naval architecture specialists were able to engage with key stakeholders to redesign the ferry communication aerials and significantly reduce the navigational clearance requirement. This reduced the required length of the bridge by over 70m. The smooth curves of the final geometric configuration would not have been possible without this reduction in navigational clearance.

The bridge fabrication and erection sequence proposed influenced many of the design details and decisions while the location in a tidal saline waterway impacted choice in materials and element form.

Digital innovation was used extensively throughout the design development. Shared modelling across many platforms allowed architects, engineers and fabricators to efficiently share complex 3-dimentional information to develop, amend, analyse and eventually fabricate and construct the main bridge elements to a 2mm tolerance. Global communication and collaboration tools were also used throughout the design process to enable Arup experts, located across the region and globe, to efficiently design, review, challenge, analyse and develop the design solution and details.