H&H is the lead movable bridge and mechanical systems designer for this first opening road bridge to be constructed across the Clyde River in Renfrewshire County, Scotland. The crossing is the centrepiece of the Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside (CWRR) project, which will transform the waterfront, connect communities on both sides of the river, improve access to jobs, education, hospitals, and leisure pursuits and create new connections into Scotland’s manufacturing innovation district AMIDS. The 184m double cable-stayed swing bridge, connecting Renfrew to Clydebank and Yoker, will carry vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The geometry of this elegant and structurally efficient swing bridge allows for cyclist and pedestrian-friendly gradients on the bridge while also providing a significant navigational opening. The 12.3-meter-wide bridge deck contains two carriageways and two pedestrian footpaths. The double swing bridge is 130 meters pivot to pivot with an asymmetric or “bobtail” arrangement of 65-meter forward span and 27-meter back span. The steel superstructure spans are gear-driven, hydraulically powered, and open at a 110° angle. The pivots feature 6.7-meter-diameter slewing bearings. The forward steel superstructure is supported by cable-stays anchored to steel pylons and a counterweighted back span.

The project is one of several collaborations with Roughan & O’Donovan. The overall scheme is being led by the construction and civil engineering company, GRAHAM, with a robust overall project team including Hollandia Infra, among others. Planning consent has already been obtained. Detailed design and construction are scheduled to start this spring and take three years to complete.

Visual concept designs of the new River Clyde bridge produced by Kettle Collective, in collaboration with Sweco.