Architecture

Taizhou Bridge awarded supreme structural engineering gong

Taizhou Bridge awarded supreme structural engineering gong
Taizhou Bridge under construction
Taizhou Bridge under construction
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The judges described Bishop Edward King Chapel's timber structure as inspirational. It won the Community or Residential Structures award (Photo: Balazs Bicsak)
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The judges described Bishop Edward King Chapel's timber structure as inspirational. It won the Community or Residential Structures award (Photo: Balazs Bicsak)
The judges described Bishop Edward King Chapel's timber structure as inspirational. It won the Community or Residential Structures award (Photo: Piers Awdry)
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The judges described Bishop Edward King Chapel's timber structure as inspirational. It won the Community or Residential Structures award (Photo: Piers Awdry)
CCTV HQ, pictured here under construction, won the award for Commercial and Retail Structures (Photo: Frank P. Palmer)
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CCTV HQ, pictured here under construction, won the award for Commercial and Retail Structures (Photo: Frank P. Palmer)
CCTV HQ won the award for Commercial and Retail Structures (Photo: Fu Xing Architecture Photography)
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CCTV HQ won the award for Commercial and Retail Structures (Photo: Fu Xing Architecture Photography)
Buro Happold won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for the Cutty Sark conservation project in London (Photo: Jim Stephenson)
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Buro Happold won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for the Cutty Sark conservation project in London (Photo: Jim Stephenson)
Buro Happold won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for the Cutty Sark conservation project in London (Photo: Jim Stephenson)
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Buro Happold won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for the Cutty Sark conservation project in London (Photo: Jim Stephenson)
Expedition Engineering, Buro Happold and URS shared the Infrastructure or Transportation Structures award for Emirates Air Line (Photo: Mace)
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Expedition Engineering, Buro Happold and URS shared the Infrastructure or Transportation Structures award for Emirates Air Line (Photo: Mace)
Expedition Engineering, Buro Happold and URS shared the Infrastructure or Transportation Structures award for Emirates Air Line (Photo: Luke Hayes)
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Expedition Engineering, Buro Happold and URS shared the Infrastructure or Transportation Structures award for Emirates Air Line (Photo: Luke Hayes)
Buro Happold also won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for structural design of the University of Exeter Forum (Photo: Hufton+Crow)
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Buro Happold also won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for structural design of the University of Exeter Forum (Photo: Hufton+Crow)
Buro Happold also won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for structural design of the University of Exeter Forum (Photo: Hufton+Crow)
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Buro Happold also won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for structural design of the University of Exeter Forum (Photo: Hufton+Crow)
The Award for Small Practices went to Malishev Wilson Engineers for the structural design of the feature staircase at the New Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg
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The Award for Small Practices went to Malishev Wilson Engineers for the structural design of the feature staircase at the New Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg
The Award for Small Practices went to Malishev Wilson Engineers for the structural design of the feature staircase at the New Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg
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The Award for Small Practices went to Malishev Wilson Engineers for the structural design of the feature staircase at the New Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg
Arup picked up the Sports and Leisure Structures award for the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK
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Arup picked up the Sports and Leisure Structures award for the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK
Arup picked up the Sports and Leisure Structures award for the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK
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Arup picked up the Sports and Leisure Structures award for the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK
Gardens by the Bay, with structural design by Atelier One and Meinhardt Infrastructure, won the Arts or Entertainment structures award (Photo: Craig Sheppard)
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Gardens by the Bay, with structural design by Atelier One and Meinhardt Infrastructure, won the Arts or Entertainment structures award (Photo: Craig Sheppard)
Gardens by the Bay, with structural design by Atelier One and Meinhardt Infrastructure, won the Arts or Entertainment structures award (Photo: Darren Chin)
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Gardens by the Bay, with structural design by Atelier One and Meinhardt Infrastructure, won the Arts or Entertainment structures award (Photo: Darren Chin)
The Award for Sustainability went to the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, with structural design by Aecom (Photo: Sam Burrell)
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The Award for Sustainability went to the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, with structural design by Aecom (Photo: Sam Burrell)
The Award for Sustainability went to the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, with structural design by Aecom
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The Award for Sustainability went to the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, with structural design by Aecom
The Award for Small Projects went to the KREOD Pavillion in London, with structural design by Ramboll
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The Award for Small Projects went to the KREOD Pavillion in London, with structural design by Ramboll
The Award for Small Projects went to the KREOD Pavillion in London, with structural design by Ramboll
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The Award for Small Projects went to the KREOD Pavillion in London, with structural design by Ramboll
Price & Myers picked up the Pedestrian Bridges award for Pembroke College Footbridge in Oxford (Photo: Quintin Lake)
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Price & Myers picked up the Pedestrian Bridges award for Pembroke College Footbridge in Oxford (Photo: Quintin Lake)
Price & Myers picked up the Pedestrian Bridges award for Pembroke College Footbridge in Oxford (Photo: Quintin Lake)
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Price & Myers picked up the Pedestrian Bridges award for Pembroke College Footbridge in Oxford (Photo: Quintin Lake)
Taizhou Bridge under construction
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Taizhou Bridge under construction
Taizhou Bridge is the first suspension bridge of its type, using two main spans between three support towers
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Taizhou Bridge is the first suspension bridge of its type, using two main spans between three support towers
View gallery - 24 images

The 2,940-m (9,650-ft) long Taizhou Bridge has won the Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence at this year's Structural Awards. The event gives the nod to a variety of structures across numerous categories, but it was the three-tower, long-span suspension bridge, the first of its kind, which received the overall "Supreme" gong.

When it opens on Nov. 25, Taizhou Bridge will carry six lanes of traffic (plus two maintenance lanes) nearly 3-km across the Yangtze River. Though the total length of 2,940 m is an awfully long way, the bridge has two main spans using three towers rather than the norm of one main span using two support towers.

The two spans are each 1,080 m (3,540 ft) long, which individually is less than the main span of the Golden Gate Bridge at 1,280 m (4,200 ft), and much less than the 1,990-m (6,529 ft) span of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, the longest main span of any suspension bridge on Earth. Two end spans of 390 m (1,280 ft) connect Taizhou Bridge with the banks of the river.

But in using two spans the Taizhou Bridge is a major breakthrough in structural engineering. The design requires the perfect balance of flexibility and rigidity in its 192-m (630-ft) steel central tower in order to withstand changing and imbalanced loads to either side. The complementary side towers are 178 m (584 ft) tall, and are made of concrete. The two main cables supporting the bridge are 3,110 m (10,200 ft) long and 72 cm (28 in) in diameter.

"This enormous project was an extraordinary achievement, which pushed the frontiers of suspension bridge technology to new heights," the judges said. "Bridge engineering has just moved forward by a very significant margin."

As well as the main award, the bridge, which was designed by the Jiangsu Provincial Communications Planning and Design Institute and Aecom Asia, also picked up the award for Highway or Railway Bridge Structures.

Other winners

Several of the other category winners will be familiar to regular readers of Gizmag. Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, with structural design by Atelier One and Meinhardt Infrastructure, won the Arts or Entertainment structures award. The award for Commercial and Retail Structures went to the the headquarters of China Central Television in Beijing, with structural design by Arup and the East China Architectural & Design Research Institute.

The Award for Sustainability went to the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, with structural design by Aecom. The Emirates Air Line, which Gizmag took for a spin shortly after its opening, picked up the award for Infrastructure or Transportation Structures. The structural design was done by Expedition Engineering, Buro Happold and URS.

Price & Myers picked up two awards: the Community or Residential Structures gong for the structural design of Bishop Edward King Chapel in Oxfordshire, UK, and the Pedestrian Bridges award for Pembroke College Footbridge in Oxford. It was also a good night for Buro Happold, which won the Education and Healthcare Structures award for structural design of the University of Exeter Forum, along with the Structural Heritage Award for the structural design carried out for the conservation (or perhaps restoration) of the Cutty Sark in London.

The Award for Small Practices went to Malishev Wilson Engineers for the structural design of the feature staircases at the New Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. The Award for Small Projects, meanwhile, went to the KREOD Pavillion in London, with structural design by Ramboll. Arup picked up the Sports and Leisure Structures award for the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK.

The winners were announced on Nov. 15, 2013.

Source: The Institution of Structural Engineers

View gallery - 24 images
4 comments
4 comments
bobmeyerweb
Given how catastrophically unsound some of China's other mega-projects have been (collapsing buildings, railroads, highways), forgive me for thinking this award may be premature. I would have waited, perhaps, to see what happens when the bridge is heavily loaded while subject to swirling, 50mph winds.....
Slowburn
@ bobmeyerweb The PRC's problem is quality control not lack engineering skills. So if the bridge fails it probably is not a question of design weakness.
nutcase
engineering excellence is about quality control not design
Bob Stuart
How does this advance the art? The Oakland Bay bridge from San Francisco is an old example of multiple spans. There is nothing in engineering that does not combine strength with flexibility.