1716x
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2023-06-26

Airedale Swing Bridge in Rodley, United Kingdom

The Airedale swing bridge is the largest manually operated steel swing bridge in the UK. It provides access to a newly built housing development on the outskirts of Leeds.

Based on the BIM model, Matrix Consulting Engineers Ltd, a British Dlubal customer, created a 3D finite element model in RFEM. Using RFEM, the engineers designed the steel structure of the swing bridge and the reinforced concrete structure of the abutments.

Konstruktion and Bemessung

The total length of the steel bridge is about 15 m (49 ft) and the width is about 5 m (16 ft). Pylons made of rectangular tubes with guyed tension members consisting of round steel sections are arranged on each of the bridge's longitudinal girders in order to keep the vertical deformations low. S355 and S275 steel cross-sections (tension members) are used. The bridge can be rotated 90° using a manually operated rotating mechanism. When the bridge is open, the passage width for ships is about 5.5 m (18 ft).

In RFEM, the Matrix engineers analyzed the states for "bridge closed" and "bridge open". In the closed state, various load positions for vehicles and ship impacts have been set as actions.

In the following videos, you can see the mechanism of the bridge, both as an animation and in reality.

Location Moss Bridge Rd
Rodley, Leeds
United Kingdom
 
Investor LAND & WATER
www.land-water.co.uk
Structural Design Matrix Consulting Engineers Ltd
www.matrixce.co.uk


Project Specifications

Model Data

Number of Nodes 377
Number of Lines 501
Number of Members 436
Number of Surfaces 68
Number of Solids 3
Number of Load Cases 7
Number of Load Combinations 74
Number of Result Combinations 0
Total Weight 231.845 tons
Dimensions (Metric) 15,116 x 4,407 x 15,741 m
Dimensions (Imperial) 49.59 x 14.46 x 51.64 feet

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