A new footbridge is being installed in Abingdon (UK), as part of a S106 agreement ¹ for Barratt Mercia’s ‘The Riverside Collection’ development on Thames View.

The development ² is situated close to Abbey Meadows and the historic Abbey Grounds - a large area of landscaped public open space behind Old Abbey House ³ and the District Council offices on the edge of the town centre. Abbey Meadows features a variety of public leisure facilities including an ornamental lake, an Italian Walk, an open-air pool, a pitch and putt course and tennis courts. Abingdon itself is one of the oldest recorded towns in the UK, and features a wealth of architectural history with many timber frame buildings, and sash-windowed Georgian frontages clustered in the narrow streets around the town centre. The town is on the River Thames ⁴, which has bridge crossings to the southern and western parts of the town.

RPS has designed a 22.00m span steel footbridge ⁵ linking the new Riverside Collection to Abbey Meadows, crossing Abbey Stream. The bridge has a hardwood timber deck and will feature bronze panels created by artist Richard Farrington. The panels celebrate the town’s rich history, and are based upon a 10th Century sword that was found in the River Thames at Abingdon (now on display at the Ashmolean in Oxford). The installation of the panels is planned to involve a community activity session where people will be able to view the bridge, and make rubbings of the panels.⁶

The entire bridge, excluding panels, weighs some 18, 200kg and installation of the structure was achieved in one piece, using a crane. Its weight is supported on reinforced concrete abutments on CFA piles. The bridge adds to the Vale of White Horse District Council’s completion of the Abbey Grounds restoration project to restore the land to its former layout as a scenic Victorian Pleasure Gardens beside Abbey Meadows.

RPS also provided structural and civil engineering services to Barratt Mercia for the Riverside Collection development itself, which reached completion during 2007 and provides a mix of one and two bedroom apartments and three-bedroom townhouses.

For more information please contact:
RPS Milton Keynes
T: +44 (0) 1908 669 898

Abbey Meadow Bridge: Structural Details
Dimensions:	22.00m span 3.60m overall width
Construction:	Steel through bridge with hardwood timber deck. Main bridge beams are 910 deep.
Parapets:	Mild steel frame with tensioned stainless steel infill wires and bronze artwork panels.
Abutments:	Reinforced insitu concrete on CFA piles.
Steel superstructure:	13, 000kg
Parapets (excl. panels):	1, 900kg
Timber deck:	3, 300kg

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Notes:
¹ Section 106 Agreement: Where Planning permission is granted subject to fulfilment of specified obligations intended to help balance possible impact from a new development on the surrounding area through the introduction of regional improvements – in this case contributing to the preservation of the town’s history, by celebrating it.
² Barratt Mercia.
³ Previously the private home of EJ Trendall who created the pleasure gardens in Abbey Grounds and commissioned the Folly using stone from the original abbey. The building now houses the Town Council offices and Tourist Information Centre.
⁴ Its tributary, the River Ock, runs through the southern end of the town, towards the villages of Marcham and Drayton.
⁵ See table for structural details of bridge.
⁶ Date for this event is still to be confirmed, but will take place during April-May 2008.