Anatomy of Civil Engineering

Photo: installation of the mobile, first floor of One Great George Street, view of Infinity Bridge and Velvet Mill models

Mobile composed of engineering models, in the rotunda of One Great George Street.
The London region of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE London) presents this 30 metre mobile, Anatomy of Civil Engineering, in celebration of the London Festival of Architecture, 19 June 4 July 2010. Each component represents a key infrastructure project developed by consultancies within the capital. These projects include: Thames Waters London Tideway Tunnels pumping station; Kings Cross station roof; the Infinity Bridge; the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station; the London 2012 Olympic stadium; the qr5 wind turbine, the Xstrata Treetop Walkway at Kew Gardens; the Eel Net Bridge; the Velvet Mill; the Martello Tower and the Hy-pavilion. The participating consultancies are Price & Myers, AECOM, Arup, Expedition, Buro Happold, quietrevolutionTM and Jane Wernick Associates.

London Tideway Tunnels, Lee Tunnel, Beckton Pumping Station

Model on loan from AECOM
Computer generated images of how the Beckton Pumping Station will look when it is built

Thames Water is planning the construction of the London Tideway Tunnels the Lee Tunnel and the Thames Tunnel to substantially reduce the volume of untreated sewage discharged from Londons Victorian sewers into the River Thames and its tributary the River Lee. These discharges occur due to lack of capacity in the capitals existing sewer network and only a few millimetres of rainfall can trigger a discharge. Together, the Lee and Thames Tunnel storm water interception and storage schemes will ensure the city has a sewerage system fit for the 21st Century and beyond.

The Lee Tunnel will transfer the 16 million cubic metres of sewage discharged into the lower River Lee at Abbey Mills Pumping Station to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. Discharges at Abbey Mills currently take place up to 55 times a year and at rates of over 50 cubic metres per second. The proposed Thames Tunnel, currently in the early design phase, will intercept a further 34 storm overflows.

Thames Water commissioned AECOM to carry out the reference design for the Lee Tunnel which will be nearly seven kilometres long with an inside diameter of 7.2 metres - approximately the same diameter as the Channel Tunnel. Construction is scheduled to start in June 2010 and finish in 2014. The pumping station, to be constructed at Beckton, will empty the tunnel and discharge flows to an extended Beckton Sewage Treatment Works for full treatment.

Kings Cross Western Concourse Roof, London

Model on loan from Arup

John McAslan and Partners

The Kings Cross Western Concourse Roof consists of a lightweight diagrid shell, supported by perimeter tree columns and a central funnel structure. The roof is structurally independent from the Grade 1 listed Western Range Building. The envelope and structure are highly integrated and maintain elegance of form whilst exploiting the advantages of modularity and repetition in both the structural and envelope components, to provide economy in fabrication and erection.

The concourse roof is part of Network Rails major redevelopment of Kings Cross station. The refurbishment programme includes a new concourse between St. Pancras and Kings Cross featuring the unique roof and refurbishment of the existing Western Range Building and ticket hall. The existing southern concourse will be replaced by a new public square revealing the historic Kings Cross faade.

The redevelopment of Kings Cross station will create a new interchange facility with London Underground and St Pancras stations. The iconic sweeping space will provide a fitting gateway to welcome those people arriving to the capital for the Olympics.

Designers

Arup and John McAslan and Partners

Infinity Bridge, Stockton-On-Tees

Model on loan from Expedition

Infinity Bridge, the 180 metre long footbridge across the River Tees in Stockton was Expeditions response to English Partnerships brief, calling for an iconic structure to form a focal part of the major Tees Valley Regeneration project North Shore - but at a relatively modest price. The successful competition design was by Expedition Engineering and Spence Associates. The subsequent design was led by Expedition.

The original design competition involved a novel method of consultation. Local residents voted for their preferred design, choosing from designs printed on beer mats. The bridge was considered very much a Tees Valley regional project, so regular meetings were held with the council, Regional Development Agency and British Waterways as the design progressed, to ensure that all views and interests were taken into account.

Following the opening ceremony in May 2009, the footbridge has become a well loved local landmark. The elegant and flowing double bow form of the bridge is a logical response to the structural demands on it, a lean and mean example of form following function. This is not a bridge where fancy frills are allowed, instead, delight is provided through the careful and rational resolution of detail. The product of many heated tea-time battles, this is a design born of passion, with seven 5 tonne tuned mass dampers to make sure that it doesnt wobble.

Client

English Partnerships/Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Expedition

Lead Designer

Winner of Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence 2009 Structural Awards: Winner of Award for Pedestrian Bridges 2009 ICE Stephenson Award: Winner of 4m+ Category 2009 Constructing Excellence Awards: North East - Project of the Year 2009 Concrete Society: Civil Engineering Project of the Year 2009 International Green Apple Gold Award for Civic Pride: New Build 2009 RIBA Awards: North East Region 2010

Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, Antarctica

Model on loan from Expedition

Expedition teamed up with Hopkins and Atelier 10 for a competition to design the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station. Expedition and two others were selected from a pool of over 80 of the best design teams from around the world, and paid to develop designs through to a late stage in the competition, before the final selection was made.

This is an astonishingly challenging site, located 10,000 miles from the UK and 3,000 miles from anything useful to a construction project. Additionally, the ice-pack on which the station is located moves seaward at up to 1 kilometre a year and the snow accumulates around the station at a rate of 1.5 metres per year. These factors led Expeditions team to design two 800 tonne buildings that could literally step-up each year to deal with the accumulated snow and could walk inland when the need arose.

Unfortunately, Expeditions team did not win the contract in the end. However, one day perhaps, theyll find another project that needs a walking building.

Client

British Antarctic Survey

Architect

Hopkins Architects

Environmental Engineer

Atelier 10

Structural & Civil Engineer

Expedition

London 2012 Olympic Stadium, Stratford

Model on loan from Buro Happold

Stadium images ODA

The London 2012 Olympic Stadium has been designed to be a low-impact, sustainable solution. The stadium will accommodate a capacity of 80,000 spectators for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and can be converted for a reduced capacity in the long term.

The innovative design features a lightweight, cable-supported roof, and a simple demountable superstructure. Catering and retail outlets are grouped around the podium in pods. The stadium will provide facilities for elite athletes, the media and the Games Family, and these will include changing areas, an indoor final warm-up track, race management space, restaurants and bars, press conference rooms, broadcast studio space and all necessary support and service facilities.

The model of the stadium was constructed to enable wind tunnel testing. The aim of the testing is to verify expected wind pressures on the structural elements of the building, which informs specific load cases to be considered in the structural analysis.

The model was constructed and tested in 2008 following the Scheme Design completion. The stadium design has continued to evolve, in particular, with the development of the pavilion to the west of the stadium which will accommodate Games Family facilities during the Games.
Client Olympic Delivery Authority Sir Robert McAlpine

Design and Build Contractor Architect Populous

Services provided by Buro Happold

Structural engineering, building services

engineering, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, geoenvironmental consultancy, fire engineering, inclusive design consultancy, security consultancy, sustainability advice, computational simulation and analysis, design management, CDM co-ordinator services

qr5 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Model on loan from quietrevolutionTM

The qr5 vertical axis wind turbine has been developed wholly in the UK by quietrevolution and represents an opportunity for Britain to lead the world in small vertical axis wind technology. Unlike traditional wind generating schemes, the unique and innovative design of the qr5 makes efficient use of wind conditions found near buildings, where wind direction frequently changes from minute to minute. The qr5 is ideally suited for use on larger buildings, offices, residential blocks, schools, and other similar scale developments.

It is compact at five metres high and three metres in diameter, and allows for easy integration into existing buildings and offices. It is also very quiet its triple helix form and vertical rotation axis virtually eliminates noise and vibration, which is critical for use in built up areas.

The quietrevolution turbine normally sits on a six or three metre mast when roof-mounted, and a fifteen metre mast when ground-mounted. Current

installations include turbine systems on the science block at Kings College School in Wimbledon, the Mercedes-Benz headquarters outside Milton Keynes, several Network Rail sites around the country and Sainsburys stores in Greenwich and Dartmouth.

A further 100 sites have planning approval and the turbines will be installed as soon as theyve been manufactured. These sites include large retailers, government buildings, schools and universities across the UK.

Xstrata Treetop Walkway, Kew Gardens

Model on loan from Jane Wernick Associates

The Xstrata Treetop Walkway at Kew Gardens enables visitors of all ages and physical abilities to experience the tree canopy in an arboretum that was originally laid out by Capability Brown. It replaces a temporary walkway through the redwoods that was made of scaffolding in 2003.

It is approximately 190 metres long and 18 metres high, and is accessed by either stairs or a lift. The use of weathering steel was suggested by the head arboroculturalist as this material has a colour that blends wells with nature yet looks man-made, and does not need re-painting in the future.

The models of the main node were used to aid discussion on how the pieces of plate should be connected and the internal stiffeners arranged.

Architects

Marks Barfield Architects Atelier 10

Services Engineers Interpretation

Engineered Arts Fanshawe 3m

Quantity Surveyor Construction cost

Winner of Structural Steel Award 2009 Winner of a RIBA London Region Award 2009 Winner of the ICE London Merit Award for Best Integrated Design 2009 Winner of a Civic Trust Award 2009 Winner of Conde Naste Traveller Innovation and Design Awards 2008
Jane Wernick Associates Ltd. was founded in August 1998. Since then the practice has been involved in a wide range of buildings and structures, from private homes to large institutional buildings, from furniture and exhibition stands to the extension of the cemetery island in Venice. A large number of the projects have contributed to the regeneration of the cities in which they were built, such as the Young Vic Theatre in London and the Figge Art Centre in Des Moines, Iowa. The aim of the practice is to remain involved in the design process, by seeing the structural engineering as one component of the total design. The practice is led by Jane Wernick, who previously worked for Ove Arup & Partners as an Associate Director. There, her most notable project was the Millennium Wheel. She has recently given the practice to an employee benefit trust.

Eel Net Bridge, London

Model on loan from Price & Myers

The Eel Net Bridge is a competition-winning design for the Minet County Park crossing in Southall, London by architects Hakes Associates with Price & Myers Consulting Engineers. This 130 metre long bridge has two arched spans linked by an inverted arch supporting structure. The freeform concept was developed and rationalised to be based on trimmed hyperbolic paraboloid geometry. This allowed the main structural arches to be an efficient and elegant parabolic shape. The trussed infill to the arch is made up of straight tubes that follow the form of the underlying geometry. The bridge is currently in planning.

The model is comprised of a lightweight copper tubing structure that demonstrates the geometry of the bridge. An artwork in itself, it has been shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the London Festival of Architecture and the100% Design Show London.

Architect

Hakes Associates

Structural Engineers

Price & Myers

Model

A Models

Velvet Mill, Bradford

Model on loan from Price & Myers

The scale model of the Velvet Mill in balsa wood is one pod of a 100 metre long 15 million rooftop extension containing 30 flats on top of a converted Velvet Mill in Bradford. The two storey roof scheme is inspired by plaited yarns of silk, once produced by the mill. Each unit has an apparently complex double curved form that is made up of plywood beams and specially tailored plywood skin panels. A simple curved structure supports the pods and transfers loads onto the fragile mill building below. The project was completed in 2010. Client Urban Splash

Architect

David Morley Architects

Structural Engineers

Price & Myers

Model

A Models

Martello Tower, Suffolk

Model on loan from Price & Myers

This structure had been designated as a nationally important archaeological monument by English Heritage when the project began to turn this derelict building into a habitable private residence. Price & Myers was involved from the beginning, working with the architects and English Heritage to assess the condition of the existing masonry and timber structure.

A specially designed steel and timber roof with frameless glass below was constructed to float above the original tower. The geometry of the new roof is based on the complex relationship between the curved plan of the tower and the double curved form of the roof. The project was completed in 2005.

The 3D printed model was created by Cadventure for the London Architecture Biennale in 2006 and has been shown in the Crypt of St Pancras Church, the House of Detention in Clerkenwell, and the 100% Design Show London.

Architect

Piercy Conner Architects Price & Myers

Structural Engineers Model Cadventure

Price & Myers Hy-pavilion

Model on loan from Price & Myers

This landmark pavilion structure designed by Price & Myers is playing host to a series of events throughout the London Festival of Architecture 2010. It can currently be found within New London Architectures urban pocket park, for their festival event We Love Store Street.

Price & Myers; working with Finnforest, m-tec, Millimetre, and Commercial Systems International, designed the pavilion in the form of two intersecting hyperbolic paraboloids, arranged at 90 degrees to each other. This forms a stable triangulated structure, providing a 360 degree stage and venue for talks, events, and theatre.

The model was created by Millimetre to determine how the bungee cords and canopy would function within the Kerto edge beams.

Designer and structural engineer Contractor

Price & Myers

Commercial Systems International Ltd Millimetre Finnforest

Canopy and bungees

Kerto engineered timber Steel m-tec

Meads Reach Bridge, Bristol

Model on loan from Price & Myers

This competition-winning footbridge spans 55 metres over the floating harbour in Bristol. It is constructed entirely from stainless steel and was lifted into place using one of Europes largest cranes. Patterns of stress are represented on the surface of the bridge with 50,000 laser cut holes.

The construction process involved creating a detailed 3D computer model of the entire structure, including all the holes. This enabled each component to be laser cut from stainless steel sheets. The footbridge was completed in 2008.

The 3D printed model was created by Warwick University for the London Architecture Biennale in 2006 and has been shown in the Crypt of St Pancras Church, the House of Detention in Clerkenwell, and the 100% Design Show London.

Architect

Niall McLaughlin Architects Price & Myers

Structural Engineers Sculptor Model

Martin Richman

Warwick University

RIBA Regional Award 2009 ACE Engineering Excellence Awards, Highly Commended 2009

Installation of the Anatomy of Civil Engineering mobile

Miranda Housden, Regional Director, ICE London

Katherine Abraham, Transport for London Regional Committee member, ICE London

Tim Lucas, Price & Myers Structural engineer leading the installation

David Davies, Atkins Regional Committee member, ICE London

One Great George Street Westminster London SW1P 3AA t +44 (0)20 7222 7722 f +44 (0)20 7222 7500 ice.org.uk/london