Rendel was appointed as the Egyptian Government’s consultants for the design and construction of a 977m long, 21m wide cable-stayed road bridge, with a main span of 250m, over the River Nile, approximately 10km down river from the two Aswan dams. The bridge is in a seismically active region and required major river foundations.

The 1km long dual-lane road crossing of the Nile comprises a 500m cable-stayed bridge and approach viaducts. The bridge is in a seismically active region and requires major river foundations. The cable-stayed bridge is a post-tensioned concrete box girder segmented by a mono-plane stay system. The approaches comprise a twin concrete box girder bridge

Rendel prepared the tender documents for the procurement of the capital works under a design and build form of contract to Egyptian law. In association with a local consultant (Arab Consulting Engineers (ACE)) Rendel led the three project phases:

• Phase I outline design, preparation of bidding documents and specifications
• Phase II tender prequalification and evaluation
• Phase III check of contractor’s detailed design

Rendel’s services to the client included specialist advice and the drafting of project specific design criteria in relation to cable-stays, seismic engineering, wind and temperature loading and traffic loading. We were also responsible for the technical, commercial and contractual evaluation of tenders and the making of recommendations to the client. The detailed design of the cable-stayed bridge included ship impact and seismic analysis as well as carrying out a concrete time-dependent analysis of the cable-stayed bridge and a check of the casting curves. Rendel also provided expert technical advice and supervision in relation to the cable-stayed bridge.

The Mersey Gateway Project was a major scheme to build a new six-lane, one-mile toll bridge over the Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes to relieve the congested and ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge. The new bridge crosses the Mersey about 1.5km east of the Silver Jubilee Bridge. It is a tolled crossing with a maximum speed limit of 60 mph.

Key elements of the project included:

• Plans to develop and integrate public transport, cycle and pedestrian links across Halton
• Plans to kick-start a major, 20-year, regeneration programme for Halton
• Improving regional transport links to encourage new and inward investment
• Road user charges on the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge between the two towns

The new bridge is over 70% funded by the private sector. By 2030 it will have created an estimated 4,640 new jobs through direct employment, regeneration activity and inward investment and generated an estimated £61.9m per annum in gross value added from the new jobs by 2030.

The Mersey Gateway Project forms the centrepiece of a new and improved high standard link road (9.5km long) connecting the national motorway network in north Cheshire with Merseyside.

Rendel was appointed as a member of the design JV, along with Ingerop and Atkins, to carry out the tender design of the main cable-stayed bridge and the approach viaducts, including the foundations. In addition, Rendel was also responsible for value engineering and the preparation of the bidding documents.

The first major cable-supported bridge of its kind in Bangladesh.

The US$45 million (£29 million) Shah Amanat bridge (previously known as the Third Karnaphuli bridge) is a 950m long bridge comprising three 200m extradosed main river spans, two 115m side spans and a 130m approach viaduct section spanning the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong, the second largest city in Bangladesh.

Rendel was appointed by the China Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC) to design the bridge, incorporating innovative design techniques and using the latest software, particularly in relation to the cable supported structure and seismic design. We completed the detailed design, supervised the critical aspects of ground investigation and had ongoing involvement on site in providing technical advice during construction.

The prestressed concrete box girder deck was constructed by the balanced cantilever technique. Seismic devices were provided at each of the four piers to transfer loads from deck into the substructure. The crossing carries two full lanes (3.65m wide) and two narrow (1.65m wide) lanes of traffic on each carriageway as well as providing access for pedestrians.

The bridge was officially opened on 8 September 2010 and was shortlisted for that year’s BCI International Project of the Year 2010 Award.

One of the world’s most complex bridge projects

The Sheikh Zayed Bridge is an 842m long crossing linking the island city of Abu Dhabi and the mainland, providing a landmark structure at the entrance to Abu Dhabi; a remarkable combination of concrete pre-stressed boxes of 170m span, steel arches up to 60m high and cable-stayed supports, including six pre-stressed concrete highway bridges, embankments and related highway and utilities works. The bridge opened to traffic on 25 November 2010.

Rendel was involved in the project from its initial inception in the late 1990s. During this time, the company completed alternative design schemes, developed design concepts with world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid, and performed detailed design, tender document preparation and evaluation, and supervision of construction.

Rendel carried out proof engineer checks on the permanent works of all the complex bridges and the flyover. In addition, Rendel provided proof engineering services for the erection engineering and launching for the twin arch bridges. Additional services during the construction phase included the proof engineering of design changes and temporary works packages.

The Sydney Gateway project is part of Transport for New South Wales’s (Transport) strategy to increase the capacity of the infrastructure and services in the area surrounding Sydney Airport at Mascot. Sydney Gateway will provide a new toll free connection from St Peters Interchange to the International and Domestic Terminals and beyond. It is being delivered to improve travel times to Sydney Airport, the M5 and Eastern Distributor.

Transport awarded a design and construct contract for Sydney Gateway to John Holland Seymour Whyte Joint Venture in November 2020. Major construction has started late 2021 and the project is expected to be open to traffic in late 2024.

Rendel/Ingerop are responsible for developing and delivering the Scheme Design of the Civil Works in Stage 1 followed by the Detailed Design in Stage 2, for the Design-and-Build contractor, ALIGN. Align is comprised of the three Civil Contractors in Joint Venture (Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, Volkerstevin).

The services provided include design of the Colne Valley viaduct and other structural elements (e.g. abutments); design of associated approach embankments; geotechnical modelling, ground risk assessments and earthworks; soil-structure interaction analysis for piled foundations and earth-retaining structures; geological interpretation of GI data; development of ground models; highway designs for road diversions, realignments, new junctions, new access roads to compounds and transformer sites, highway scope definition, pavements, emergency hard standings, road drainage and vehicle swept path analysis;  track alignments; production of 2D drawings and 3D BIM models of the designs to meet the ultimate client’s BIM and data management requirements; Environmental assessments; hydraulic modelling for river realignments / diversions; acoustic modelling for the design of Noise Barriers.

Rendel, Ingerop’s UK subsidiary, provided Management Support Consultancy services, which included value engineering design to accelerate construction, on the US $2.9 billion Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP).

Funded by the Government of Bangladesh, PMBP is a two-level, steel truss bridge with a four-lane highway on the upper level and provisions for a single-track railway on the lower level. The upper and lower levels act compositely with a reinforced concrete deck slab. The bridge has a total length of 6.15 kilometres and a width of 22 metres at upper deck level. As well as rail and road, the bridge carries utilities including a high pressure gas pipe and telecommunication lines. The project is considered one of the most challenging construction projects in the country’s history, as in response to very challenging foundation conditions, it features driven piles over 125m long.

It is the largest bridge in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin, located approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Dhaka. It connects the south-western region to the rest of Bangladesh to encourage and facilitate economic growth through the transport of people, goods, natural gas and telecommunications.

In addition to the construction of the bridge itself, there is an elaborate system of associated road constructions including two toll plazas and bridge end facilities, a 13.6 kilometre, four-lane, dual carriageway approach road, culverts, small bridges, underpasses, service roads and service areas for residential accommodation. Complex riverbank protection/training works of 14 kilometres in length were also constructed. The social and environment impacts were carefully managed via the implementation of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).

Rendel provided Management Support Consultancy (MSC) which included project management of the entire scheme including contractual and commercial advice; engineering and technical support and advice; budgetary and financial management; quality control and assurance; advising on dispute settlement; and the implementation of the social safeguard plans (environment, resettlement, etc.).

Rendel also managed several specific supplementary engineering studies. These included re-detailing of the main bridge precast roadway deck slabs to improve the buildability and enhance longevity; and the design and implementation of a dehumidification system through the interior of the 6.15 kilometres truss main bridge in association with Ingerop, who modelled the completed assembled truss module using 3-D CFD.

Rendel also completed the original Padma River Crossing Pre-feasibility Study in 2000.