Clifton Suspension Bridge
The UK Bridges Board reports to the UK Roads Leadership Group and leads on policy and research in managing the UK’s bridges. The Bridge Owners Forum supports UKBB on research in the bridges field and has developed the Grand Challenges in close consultation with UKBB. Getting the Grand Challenges message out to the wider bridge community and researchers is whole- heartedly supported by UKBB and its members; these challenges are intended to clearly present the issues bridge owners face and to steer research and development to fill identified gaps.
They are also intended to make the case for sustained, increased funding to maintain a safe and serviceable network for the travelling public, to ensure the industry has a competent workforce and to enable clear and decisive recommendations for well-timed maintenance to reduce carbon.
Cam Middleton
Dr Hazel McDonald
The Bridge Owners Forum was established in 2000 to promote mutual understanding between all bridge owners in the UK and Ireland and to act as a focal point for bridge related research.
From an early stage, we recognised that there were considerable challenges facing bridge engineers and produced our first Grand Challenges document in 2006.
Although that work was very useful at the time, BOF decided that a refresh was needed, and has since completed a further revision. It is interesting to note that whilst the themes remain unchanged there are many challenges that are new: high profile collapses, resilience from the effects of climate change and the need to decarbonise to name but a few.
The Grand Challenges are not only for bridge owners, they are also outward facing, to engage with the public and with governments to ensure that our aging bridge infrastructure receives the investment it deserves and that newly built bridges perform as required for the whole of their design lives and beyond.