Shard of Glass

London Bridge is the fifth busiest station in Europe and also one of the oldest with construction primarily taking place in the 1830s and 40s. An elevated station, its tracks and concourse are supported on a range of brick arches while an elegant train shed roof spans the platforms. The Shard of Glass, with a 15 metre deep excavation, is being constructed within a metre of the existing building and 8 metres of live railway lines. Gifford has been appointed by Network Rail to assess the reaction of existing structures to the Shard’s construction and advise on necessary measures to protect its assets at London Bridge station during the construction period.

At 84 storeys with a deep basement, the Shard of Glass will be the tallest building in Europe. It is being constructed within one metre of the historic brick vaults supporting London Bridge station.The Gifford team will be assessing the likely ground movements resulting from the deep excavations immediately adjacent to the station structures and the permanent way. Thereafter it will also be essential to monitor ongoing movements as the 84 storey structure is constructed. The combined effect of these movements will be assessed over time and analysed in conjunction with the actual structural form of the station to predict likely damage to the structures and interference to the permanent way.

Appropriate monitoring, base condition surveys and emergency procedure plans have been agreed to confirm the initial positions and then to track the changes as work proceeds. As work progresses, assessment results will be discussed with the Shard of Glass designers so that necessary mitigation measures can be undertaken. In order to carry out our role a 3D model of the massive masonry structure was developed to predict and assess the influence of ground movement. This involved 3D laser scanning, surface modeling, solid modeling and the assembly of a massive Finite Element model. This cutting edge process resulted in the creation of a structural model which, at 13,500,000 degrees of freedom, is probably the largest numerical model so far produced in the UK construction sector.

• Geotechnical
• Railway
• Structural engineering
• Complex analysis
• Heritage

Learn more

Click here to read about this project from the feature article published in Ground Engineering

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