Glasgow Central station is one of the busiest railway stations in the UK outside London, with approximately 38 million people using it each year and an average of 1100 trains per day. The original station was opened by the Caledonian Railway in July 1879 and comprises a labyrinth of masonry and brick arches linked by vaulted arches and supported on substantial masonry piers founded in alluvial deposits. In 2009, as part of their continued commitment to improve rail services in Scotland, Network Rail commissioned the construction of two new tracks into the station, the first for 100 years. This presented a significant engineering challenge as the proposed alignment for the new tracks squeezes through the existing narrow masonry arch entrance structure, runs above a line of vaulted arches, which house a nightclub, theatre and restaurant, and is carried over the existing short-stay car park and ramp on a new reinforced concrete bridge. The new structures had to be supported on the existing Victorian infrastructure, demanding innovative, practical design solutions and skilful construction techniques to enable them to be built quickly and safely in a confined, busy public place.

The new pedestrian and cycleway crossing of the River Mourne in Strabane, Northern Ireland is a slender lightweight cable-stayed structure. The bridge is 96 m long in total, with a main span of 80 m. The bridge is characterised by its inclined main tower, curved in elevation and very slender deck profile. This bridge was designed in such a manner to avoid the use of proprietary damping systems that can be employed to avoid the risk of exceedance of serviceability criteria in similar structures with a view to minimising maintenance costs during the life of the structure. This was achieved using careful dynamic analysis of the structure, wind tunnel testing as well as post-construction testing to validate criteria not explicitly dealt with by the codes of practice. This paper describes analysis and testing undertaken for the dynamic design of this bridge resulting in the client's vision being realised.

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