Proposal low-carbon road bridge for the N346, Lochem (NL)

With the design of a new highway bridge in the N346 in Lochem, Ney & Partners was able to drastically reduce the amount of steel needed to span the Twentekanaal. The 140-meter-long bridge crosses the canal at a sharp angle. By separating the superstructure from the deck and placing it perpendicular to the canal, a stable and highly efficient quattro-pod was created to suspend the deck from. Together, the steel deck and the quattro-pod utilize only 750 tons of steel, saving 42% of steel compared to a traditional double arch bridge. The steel we reduced represents 1320 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to the power use of 880 households during a year.

Annually, the building industry is responsible for 40% of the Global Warming, 11% of which is made up by the carbon we use to build our buildings and our bridges. That is why at Ney & Partners, we make it our mission to limit the embedded carbon of everything we design to what is strictly necessary. We believe that it is through the designs that we make that we can achieve the most meaningful contribution to stop global warming. To reduce the embedded carbon in our bridges we combine our expertise on structures and materials with the opportunities that the site has to offer and the creativity of our engineers and architects. Because in times of climate crisis it is not enough for bridges to be mere functional, strong, and pleasing to the eye. We must make it our top priority to make much more efficient use of carbon intensive materials like steel and cement.

Unfortunately, our consortium with Dura Vermeer did not win the tender for the N346 in Lochem and a low carbon footprint was not an assessment criterion for the design. We wish to congratulate the consortium of BAM with their winning design.