Providing detailed structural design for a bridge to connect active travel routes in Cambridgeshire

Waterbeach A10 Cycle Bridge

The 290-hectare Waterbeach development prioritises sustainability. It includes a network of cycling and walking routes to support 6,500 new homes, five new schools, health centres, and community facilities.

For over 10 years, we have been working with Urban&Civic on the phased delivery of this effort. We’ve provided technical, engineering, and environmental services for highways, transport, drainage, flood risk assessment, utilities, ground conditions, noise, air quality, and more.

The focal point of Waterbeach is a futureproof transport system that will encourage active travel. Funded by a share of Homes England's investment, the system includes a new cycleway to the nearby Science Park with a cycle bridge over the A10, which supports active mobility for pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians along the Mere Way Cycle Route.

We collaborated with Knight Architects to bring the bridge concept design to life, creating the detailed structural design of this 95-metre long bridge. During design development, our teams refined the concept by reducing the number of supports and lowering the embodied carbon and the bridge’s overall life cost. We also navigated the technical approval process with the adopting authority and conducted complex structural and dynamic analyses. Designing the main load-bearing wingbeams required careful detailing and posed challenges due to their complex shape, which reflects Waterbeach’s aviation history.

Today, the bridge serves as a distinctive architectural landmark, connecting active travel routes and providing access to one of Cambridge's largest employment centres, the Cambridge Science Park.