Queensferry Crossing – Innovation in Engineering

The spotlight was on the Queensferry Crossing, which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 4 September 2017. Spanning an overall length of 2.64 km, the bridge features a 2.10 km cable-stayed system with two main spans of 650 m each. The central tower is stabilized by cable fans that overlap at the centres of the main spans. This is a solution that is unique for a bridge of this scale. The Queensferry Crossing has in fact broken records. In September 2016, the two balanced cantilevers on each side of the central tower reached a total length of 644 m. This was a world record listed in the Guinness Book of World Records

The lecture portrayed innovations in bridge design with a focus on the Queensferry Crossing, a spectacular cable-stayed bridge across the Firth of Forth estuary. Lars T. Thorbek first looked back on the history of bridge building and then to the future. Are civil engineers truly innovative or are they just making minor adjustments to the fundamentals of bridge design? The lecture gave exciting insights into how bridges were built in the past and how bridge design has developed over time.

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