Swedish construction group Peab has been commissioned to build the bascule Tullgarn Bridge over the Fyris River in the university city of Uppsala, Sweden.
The €15.25 million project is part of infrastructure expansion plans for the city, especially for the southern area. It will connect the residential areas in Kungsängen with Studenternas IP, Stadsträdgården stadium, the city park and, importantly, Uppsala University Hospital.
The two-lane 60m-long bridge will have a 4m-wide pedestrian and bicycle path on each side.
“The Tullgarn Bridge is a vital part of Uppsala’s community development and we hope we can reduce the congestion on the city’s other bridges,” said Thomas Larsson, product manager at Peab, a construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Förslöv in Sweden’s southern-most province of Skåne. It is the third largest construction company in the Nordic region and is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm exchange, with annual revenue exceeding €4.85 billion.
The project includes re-connecting local streets and the bridge will be a landmark for the city, noted Stefan Bergerstam, project manager for the project client Uppsala Municipality. Construction is expected to start this month for completion in the winter of 2023.
The bridge will be built according to the international sustainability assessment standard CEEQUAL, an evidence-based sustainability rating and awards scheme for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and works in public spaces. CEEQUAL was established following work promoted by the UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers.
The leaf – road deck - that lifts will be built entirely of weather-resistant corten steel. The connecting leaf will be built in concrete but in a corten form and both abutments will be clad in granite. According to Peab, even the vertical lift is unusual in that it opens and closes by means of a rope system secured in one of the bridge supports.
Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys developed to eliminate the need for painting. The name COR-TEN refers to the steel’s two distinguishing properties - corrosion resistance and tensile strength. The steel is noted for its stable rust-like appearance after being exposed to the elements for several years.
Tullgarn Bridge is the third moveable bridge that Peab will have built for Uppsala Municipality after the Flottsund Bridge and the Vind Bridge.
