The Medium Girder Bridge(MGB) has largely unchanged its classic design that was first launched over 40 years ago, though there are continuous efforts to improve it, thanks to the innovations of WFEL’s in-house research and development team.

As the company’s expanding servicing arm began refurbishing more and more MGBs returning from deployment they were able to analyse what effects active use has on each system while in the field.

Greg Roney, WFEL’s senior engineer, said: “We found that one of the most common signs of wear and tear appear on the bridge deck unit.

“So we started to perform more in-depth analysis and testing and discover that the internal reinforcing structure was causing a concentration of stress under loads and this was reducing the potential lifespan of each component.”

Greg and his team began developing new designs for the bridge deck units that would remove the stress concentration and hence increase the life of the deck unit whilst still retaining its load carrying capacity.

“We developed a new design which was not only significantly more durable but also lighter, this contributed to a reduction of a typical length bridge’s weight by 180kg.”

WFEL worked alongside one of their leading MGB customers on the longer lasting, lighter deck units and there is potential for it to be adopted for of their future needs.