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Engineering solutions provider Bennett Associates is
celebrating its role in the creation of the Falkirk Wheel following this year's
Structural Steel Design Awards.
Launched in 1969 the purpose of the awards is to recognise the
high standards of structural, architectural and engineering design attained in
the use of steel and this year the judges singled out the world's first rotating
boat lift for an Engineering Award.
Commenting on this year's awards Nick Cooper, managing director of
Bennett Associates said; " It is very rewarding to have your efforts in such a
project recognised in this way. Very few people who will see the Wheel working
will ever realise just what has been achieved and the problems that have been
overcome by the engineers, designers and fabricators.
What was so unusual about this whole project was that everyone
involved was working in relatively unknown territory. It is the first ever
rotating boat lift that has been designed and as such nobody had any prior
experience of building such a machine. We had to come up with solutions for
watertight lock gates and their associated controls as well as the mechanism
that drives the whole wheel and also keeps the gondolas stable. In providing
these solutions we had to draw on our experience gained in other fields
including tunnelling machinery and the sub sea oil industry.
We already knew of solutions that worked and had already been well
proven in these other industries so we supplied the various elements almost like
pieces of a jigsaw. Then, with the fabricators Butterley Engineering, all the
pieces were knitted together so that the finished machine matched the vision put
on paper by the architects, RMJM. The simplicity and effectiveness of the final
product stemmed from an in-depth understanding of the interaction between the
mechanical and structural elements of the wheel provided by Bennetts multi
discipline team. The company's involvement permitted a constant feedback between
architects and engineers to create a workable solution."
The Falkirk Wheel is just one of a series of Millennium projects
in which Bennett Associates has had a major involvement alongside the appointed
architect and contractor. One of these other projects, and another award winner
at the 2002 Structural Steel Design Awards, was the Gateshead Millennium Bridge,
where the company was responsible for the conceptual mechanical and electrical
design elements of this innovative moveable structure.
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