The Clyde Arc (known locally as the Squinty Bridge) is a road bridge spanning the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, connecting Finnieston near the SEC Armadillo and SEC with

Pacific Quay Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened by the Clyde Navigation Tr ...

and

Glasgow Science Centre Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the Clyde Waterfront Regeneration area on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's ...

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

. Prominent features of the bridge are its innovative curved design, and that it crosses the river at an angle. The Arc is the first city centre traffic crossing over the river built since the Kingston Bridge was opened to traffic in 1970. The bridge was named the "Clyde Arc" upon its official opening on 18 September 2006. It had been previously known as the "Finnieston Bridge", or the "Squinty Bridge".

Design

The Clyde Arc was designed by Halcrow Group and built by BAM Nuttall.

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for Glasgow, Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was former ...

instigated the project in conjunction with

Scottish Enterprise Scottish Enterprise () is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, Business, enterprise, innovation, international and investment agency, investment in business. The body covers the eastern ...

and the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. Piling works for the bridge were carried out from a large floating barge on the Clyde, whilst the bridge superstructure was fabricated offsite. The bridge-deck concrete-slab units were cast at an onsite pre-casting yard. Planning permission was granted in 2003 and construction of the bridge began in May 2005. It was structurally completed in April 2006. The bridge project cost an estimated £20.3M and is designed to last 120 years. The bridge has a main span of with two end spans of , resulting in a total span of . The design of the main span features a steel arch. The supports for the main span are located within the river with the abutments located behind the existing quay walls. The central navigation height at mean water height is . It was officially opened on 18 September 2006 by

leader Steven Purcell, although pedestrians were allowed to walk across it the previous two days as part of Glasgow's annual " Doors Open" Weekend. The bridge connects Finnieston Street on the north bank of the river to Govan Road on the southern bank. The bridge takes four lanes of traffic, two of which are dedicated to

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

and two for private and commercial traffic. There are also pedestrian and cycle paths. The new bridge was built to provide better access to Pacific Quay and allow better access to regeneration areas on both banks of the Clyde. The bridge has been designed to cope with a possible light rapid transit system (light railway scheme) or even a tram system. The bridge is the first part of several development projects planned to regenerate Glasgow. The £40M Tradeston Bridge was also completed (a further proposed pedestrian bridge linking Springfield Quay with Lancefield Quay was not). The canting basin and Govan Graving Docks next to Pacific Quay are subject to development along with

Tradeston Tradeston () is a small district in the Scotland, Scottish city of Glasgow adjacent to the city centre on the south bank of the River Clyde. The name (a portmanteau of "Trades Town") reflected its role as a primarily dockland area with a lar ...

and Laurieston. A derelict area of Dalmarnock was used as the 'athletes' village' for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

in Glasgow.

Support hanger failure

The bridge was closed between 14 January and 28 June 2008 due to the failure of one support hanger, and cracks found in a second. On the night of 14 January 2008 the connecting fork on one of the bridge's 14 hangers (supporting cables that transfer the weight of the roadway to the bridge's arch) snapped; Strathclyde Police quickly closed the bridge to traffic. Robert Booth, a spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: A detailed inspection on 24 January found a stress fracture in a second support cable stay, like the one which had failed previously. Engineers determined that all of these connectors would have to be replaced; rather than a brief closure the bridge would have to remain closed for six months. In addition traffic on the river below was also halted. In March Nuttall began installing five temporary saddle frames atop the bridge's arch; these allowed the weight of the bridge to be supported without the hangers. This allowed them to replace defective fork connectors at the top and bottom of each hanger. The bridge recommenced on 28 June 2008 with just two of its four lanes in use, having had all the cast

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

connectors replaced with milled steel connectors. Once reopened, Glasgow City Council estimated that 6,500 crossings will be made every day using the bridge. New Civil Engineer reported subcontractor Watson Steel Structures was suing Macalloy, the supplier of the failed connectors, for £1.8 million. Watson alleged components obtained from Macalloy did not meet British Standards or their own specifications; parts were inadequately manufactured, and did not tally with test certificates provided by the firm. Macalloy denied the claim and countered Watson Steel Structures Ltd had only specified minimum yield stress for the components.

References

External links

Photographs taken at the opening ceremonyClyde Arc - Clyde Waterfront project details
{{River Clyde Road bridges in Scotland Bridges in Glasgow Bridges across the River Clyde Through arch bridges in the United Kingdom Pedestrian bridges in Scotland Bridges completed in 2006 Engineering failures Govan 2006 establishments in Scotland

Design

Support hanger failure

See also

References

External links