Award-winning papers in 2014

The Bill Curtin Medal, awarded for the best paper that describes innovative design in civil engineering, was awarded to Colford et al. (2014).

The existing Forth Road Bridge spans the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The main suspension bridge, with central span of 1006 m, has two multi-span approach viaducts leading up to the main crossing. The deck of the approach viaducts comprises a pair of longitudinal steel box girders supporting a series of transversely spanning steel girders, both acting compositely with a reinforced concrete deck. The steel girders of the approach viaducts are supported on steel roller and rocker bearings on concrete portal piers which vary in height between 11 m and 40 m. An initial study of the bearings identified that the rollers had locked up due to corrosion and distortion, and the concrete beneath the bearings and elsewhere on the pier tops had deteriorated due to chloride contamination. Assessment showed that structural deficiencies in the pier were exacerbated by both the concrete deterioration and change in articulation. These factors led to the decision to replace all the bearings on the viaducts. This paper outlines the design of the strengthening and modifications to the bridge to facilitate bearing replacement, together with a detailed description of the design of the temporary works needed to maintain the bridge's articulation during jacking.

The John Henry Garood King Prize, awarded to the best paper on tunnels, soil mechanics or bridges, was awarded to McCarron and McAdam (2014).

Ireland's national railway system operator Iarnród Éireann has developed innovative repair and strengthening techniques to retain, preserve and extend the longevity of several of its aging bridges. Of those, three nineteenth-century structures rehabilitated in the past decade stand out as iconic structures in their own setting and will now continue to provide service into the foreseeable future. Innovative bespoke engineering, three-dimensional finite-element modelling techniques and laboratory research and testing were used to confirm the theoretical hypothesis. This achieved a significant increase in the lifespan of these structures that would otherwise have been deemed life-expired. This paper gives an overview of each of the projects, describing the existing structure and the challenges overcome in their design, repair and rehabilitation.