Could We See A Plastic Station?
The Pedesta Bridge, that I talked about in Would You Trust Your Weight On A Thirty Metre Long Plastic Bridge?, has got me thinking.
Look at this picture of the soon-to-be-built Maghull North station.
Maghull North Station Building
The station would appear to be in a cutting with lift towers sticking their heads above the cutting and these are connected by an open walkway to the station building.
Pedesta bridges would surely be a lot easier to slot between the station building and the lift towers., than the traditional heavy steel and glass constructions. From pictures on various web sites, the bridges could even have a roof to protect travellers from the weather.
But why stop at just the bridges?
Could we see prefabricated plastic steps for example?
Anything that cuts the cost of new stations, would surely mean more!
Would You Trust Your Weight On A Thirty Metre Long Plastic Bridge?
I might as I’m only just over sixty kilograms, but others might not!
But never underestimate the power of World Class engineering.
This article in The Construction Index is entitled Mabey and Arup Launch Plastic Modular Bridge.
The bridge has the following characteristics.
- Built of metre long sections bolted together.
- Up to thirty metre spans.
- Installed without heavy machinery.
- The bridge is 70% lighter than steel.
- Low maintenance
The first bridge has been installed over the railway at a Site of Special Scientific Interest In Oxford.
I feel that Arup have designed this bridge system for purposes other than permanent structures.
This Google Map shows the centre of Tadcaster.
The road bridge that connects the two parts of the town was swept away by floodwater, as this BBC report, which details the destruction and rebuilding shows.
The new system couldn’t replace a road bridge, but there must be many instances around the world, after a an earthquake or floods, where the first thing that the rescuers need is a bridge to access a destroyed town or village.
The size and low weight of this bridge system, means it could be an early arrival.
There is more about the Pedesta bridge on Mabey’s web site.
The Anonymous Widower 