Steelwork impresses
Construction of Cambridge’s water pipe bridge has won Napier-based structural steel contractor Eastbridge first place in its category ($1.5m-$3m) at this year’s Steel Construction New Zealand’s (SCNZ’s) Excellence in Steel Awards, held at Te Papa on Friday night.
The annual awards celebrate the best and brightest in the industry and acknowledge the industry’s commitment to innovation, quality and collaboration.
Wastewater from homes north of the Waikato River is piped across the river to the Waipa¯ District Council treatment plant.
The old pipe was running at full capacity and was too small to meet the needs of the growing Cambridge population. The pipe bridge, located by the Gaslight Theatre, was also due for replacement.
Reconstruction of the bridge and pipe also required bringing the structures up to modern standards, specifically to futureproof against earthquakes.
The bridge uses a network arch design, an efficient, lightweight bridging form that looks slender and visually appealing.
Constructed off site, the new 75-tonne steel bridge took about 10 weeks to move into position.
It required an impressive five cranes, including a 400-tonne crawler crane, to assemble the steel network arch spanning 75m across the Waikato River.
The innovative ‘floating’ bridge foundations, constructed without piles, means the pipe services and the bridge remain flexible — in an earthquake, they would move and settle together, requiring minimal re-levelling to reinstate the critical sewer service post-event.
The team strategically constructed the new bridge by leveraging the old structure, which made for a seamless process.
By using the existing truss bridge as a platform, the team designed, built and installed the structure, all while maintaining existing sewer and gas services during construction.
Use of the existing pipework in the construction of the new bridge had significant cost savings for both the client and ratepayers. The team’s strategic rebuild gave the client an asset with a 100-year design life.
The judges were impressed by the elegant design and innovative solution for a piece of prosaic infrastructure, noting that it was “a really smart alternative solution that ticked all of the boxes — it was cost effective, seismically resilient, sustainable and structurally adaptable”.
This year SCNZ received 32 entries for the awards. The entries were whittled down to 20 finalists who showcased the exceptional design and execution possible when steel is used as the principal construction material.
There are five award categories, ranging from under $500,000 to more than $3 million, including an additional category to recognise residential innovations.
“The awards showcase the best of our industry and stand as an opportunity to celebrate the projects that demonstrate bestpractice, value, efficiency and innovation,” says SCNZ chairman Wayne Carson.
“The high quality of our finalists and the projects on show this year, is what sets our local structural steel industry apart from the rest of the world.”