Rainham to the River

This 120m long gently sloped, elevated bridge provides a pedestrian and cycle route over the High Speed One rail tracks at Rainham Station to Rainham marshes. The scheme uses a steel deck which is supported by inclined timber columns, their apparently random arrangement working in conjunction with the stiff plate of the bridge deck to provide a structure capable of resisting the horizontal forces on the structure due to wind and uneven deck loading. The arrangement of the column feet was carefully designed to avoid the roads, services, watercourses and culverts which traverse the site.

Further development included an RSPB birdwatch centre with converted shipping containers supported on timber pile foundations.

Structural engineering by Jane Wernick Associates, now part of engineersHRW.