World’s first Accoya road bridge goes up

The first road bridge constructed from modified wood product Accoya is now in place in the Netherlands.

The 150ft-span Akkerwinde bridge will serve as a gateway into the Dutch city of Sneek, carrying 100 tonnes of traffic a day. It weighs 450 tonnes and is one of only a few wooden heavy traffic road bridges in the world.

The £3m project was underwritten by £300,000 of research by the Dutch government to ensure Accoya met the structural requirements for the bridge. Dutch legislation stipulates that all bridges must have a minimum service life of 80 years.

“Accoya wood represents a new era in building technology,” said Finlay Morrison, chief executive officer of Accoya producer Titan Wood.

“We are taking a traditional building material and using it in new and innovative ways.”

John Alexander, head of business development at BSW Timber, the sole supplier of Accoya in the UK, added unique applications of Accoya will “create strong references for modern timber use”.

“This project is a significant demonstration of the application of Accoya wood in modern day use,” said Mr Alexander

“An 80-year design life for an uncovered bridge would not be possible in any other timber.

“While the window door and cladding markets remain core in the UK, we are working on some large scale, challenging projects in a number of countries, including the UK,” he said.