ASSESSMENT OF WEARMOUTH BRIDGE

The largest structural assessment involved provision of technical expertise to the City of Sunderland for the assessment of Wearmouth Bridge. Several spreadsheets were prepared to cater for the wide range of riveted section properties. A critical aspect when assessing a “through bridge” involves the determination of an effective length when considering compression in the upper members. A complete 3-D model allowed the transverse stiffness to be calculated. The Practice continually provides extra resources to Local Authorities to supplement their in-house teams.