WATER OF LEITH BRIDGE

The Water of Leith Bridge is a 45 m span, 3.5 m wide cycle bridge spanning the Water of Leith just downstream of Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Architectural and structural design was undertaken DC Structures Studio and the bridge constructed by Edifice Contractors Ltd.

The site was underlain by variable ground comprising historic reclamation, harbour muds and alluvial sediments that were very soft and potentially liquefiable. GeoSolve undertook detailed geotechnical analysis of the ground conditions either side of the river, and designed a robust driven pile foundation system to support the main tower and west abutment. This included a novel raked deadman design for the tower stays that provided improved seismic resilience against lateral spreading in the event of an earthquake.

GeoSolve supervised the installation and testing of the piles to ensure that the design requirements would be met, whilst avoiding potential damage to the river channel and nearby infrastructure.

Key Project Challenges

• Very soft and liquefiable ground conditions

• High structural loadings

• Working near sensitive structures