Breathing Life into an Urban Connection by Reusing Foundations and Derelict Land in Kingston, London

Royal Borough of Kingston (RBK) is improving its cycle network. This includes upgrading the cycle / footway between Kingston Train Station and the River Thames together with the replacement of an existing footbridge crossing over a busy highway. In collaboration with the architects, Buro Happold (BH) carried out the design of the whole connection. A replacement cycle bridge was designed that satisfied the project brief. The clear width of the bridge was maximised while working within the very restrictive constraints imposed by the road below and the adjacent Network Rail (NR) bridge.

The design team added value by reusing the existing abutments and repurposing derelict land for the approaches. To reuse the existing abutments, RBK, and NR, who own the existing abutments, had to be assured that they were suitable to support the replacement bridge. Even though the new bridge was over twice the width of the old, the total load on the foundations was reduced by circa 10%. Reusing the existing abutments has significantly reduced the construction effort, reducing construction costs to meet RBK’s budget and enhancing the sustainability of the project. Additional work was carried out to demonstrate the reuse of the abutments, achieve their approvals and achieve these benefits to the project.

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