SCX works with Network Rail on first AVA footbridge
1 July 2021SCX has designed a modular passenger lift system for a footbridge, named AVA, chosen for the letters that echo its modular, triangular design, that makes lift maintenance easier, while solving time-consuming installation challenges.
Each AVA lift module can be manufactured in SCX’s workshops as a single unit, shipped to site on a trailer, and lifted into position and attached to the bridge.
The design makes lift maintenance easier, while tackling the issue of fragile door mechanisms – the number one cause of out-of-order lifts – to keep the rail network accessible for all, including disabled users, people with pushchairs and cyclists.
“We have been working with some great British companies to deliver the AVA adaptable bridge for Network Rail. By making the AVA lift system entirely modular, the installation process is greatly simplified and can be performed anywhere and everywhere – from a remote rural station to a big rail hub,” said Danny Pickard, sales director, SCX.
“It firmly establishes us in the rail and infrastructure sectors at an important time when HS2 is on the horizon. The AVA footbridge can be built for half the cost of a traditional bridge and in a quarter of the time. This could save millions for Network Rail while improving access for thousands of British rail travellers.
“The design also has relevance to footbridges over the road network, at transport interchanges and service stations.”
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “Created by a world class engineering, manufacturing and construction team, and designed to be different, the configurable nature of the bridge design means that AVA can fit any station, anywhere.
“Construction of the test station is well underway and, once that phase is finished, the first AVA footbridge installations will commence on the UK’s national rail network.”
The Network Rail initiative is supported by Innovate UK, and saw SCX working alongside Expedition Engineering, Walker Construction UK, X-treme Systems, MTC - Manufacturing Technology Centre, Quantum Infrastructure, Hawkins Brown Architects, Norman Foster Foundation, and Atelier Ten.
The design reduces the cost of production, increases efficiency and flexibility, and reduces carbon throughout, compared with traditional bridge construction.
The footbridge’s modular construction uses a light and robust stainless-steel frame and faceted cladding, which allows the bridge to easily span different widths of track.
The AVA footbridge and SCX’s modular AVA lift are now undergoing trials at a test train station in Widmerpool, Nottinghamshire.
