Dukes Meadow Bridge is located in Chiswick on the River Thames tow path. The pedestrian bridge has been constructed to connect the tow path on the northern bank either side of Barnes Bridge. The bridge runs under the existing Barnes railway bridge and enables pedestrians to avoid a significant detour required prior to its construction.

CTP were instructed to provide assistance to McNealy Brown with the temporary works design. The bridge is supported by abutments at the river bank, at each end of the bridge, and two piers within the span.

The bridge was constructed in four sections connected together on site. Each section was floated via a barge up the river and lifted from the barge into place. The piers, on which the middle section of the bridge bear, are significantly narrower than the bridge deck. In addition, this section of the bridge is not symmetrical creating an eccentric load.

CTP’s role was to assess the temporary loads applied to the bridge piers and to design the temporary deck support, to enable the bridge to be safely lifted and connected to the piers without any personnel being present on the piers during that time.

CTP developed a construction sequence allowing for steel frame installation with a small mobile crane located on the ground floor slab. This avoided the need for a temporary haulage road for large plant. The method was successfully adopted by the Contractor.