Bridges

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge took about eight years to build and was first opened in 1894 by Queen Victoria. Fairfield Control Systems integrated state of the art PLC / SCADA system into existing electrical, hydraulic and mechanical infrastructure. New bridge control strategy had to be designed and implemented due to installation of Active Resting Blocks.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

This £22m project is the world's first tilting bridge. Fairfield Control Systems were awarded the contract to design a system capable of operating the 850 tonne structure within very strict parameters.

Grimsby Corporation Road Bridge

The corporation road bridge was built in 1928 to allow water-born traffic to access the dock from inland waters. After nearly 20 years out of commission Fairfield Control Systems participated in a refurbishment to reinstate electrical control and main motor drives to the bridge.

Selby Swing Bridge (A63)

Fairfield Control Systems were asked to utilise their expertise in bridge control to provide a PLC-based control system to operate the bridge.

The electrical control system comprises control panels on the north, south and central piers. Each control panel contains equipment to operate the hydraulic power pack and the associated bearing carriages and jacks. The central pier control panel also operates the nose bolt and rotation motors. The bridge is operated from a control desk in the control tower and incorporates a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) PC.

Stoneferry Bridge

Fairfield Control Systems were contracted to upgrade the PLC and SCADA system. The solution employed a ControlLogix PLC to communicate with the existing PLC5 remote I/O and RSView 32 SCADA.

Ennerdale Bridge

The Ennerdale Bridges won the much covertried Structural Steel design award in 1997. The bridges consist of two counter – weighted bascule bridges crossing the River Hull. The bridge lifting mechanism is powered by eight large hydraulic cylinders weighing around eight tons, each unit is housed in a purpose built room beneath the bridge. The control of the hydraulics is from a remote desk in the operator's control tower. Command, control and monitoring are networked to dual redundant PLC’s.
The PLC system provides acceleration and speed profile control to minimise lift times. It also monitors wind loading and compensates accordingly for windage factors.

Kingsferry Bridge

Kingsferry Bridge comprises a single lifting bridge deck, which services pedestrian, road and rail traffic. The bridge deck is raised for shipping by one hoist machine located in each of the machinery rooms.
Fairfield control systems replaced the existing limit switches associated with the Brookhirst Igranic Screw Limit Switch by the use of a modern low maintenance transducer. The PLC processes this signal and operates relays which provide signals back to the existing control panels. The ultimate limit switches and traffic gate locks were also replaced. The new data from the position transducer, new limit switches and alarms are displayed on a HMI screen located on the main control desk.

Great Wharf Road Bridge

Designed to provide access for traffic and pedestrians into Canary Wharf in London's Docklands. The north side of the 800-tonne structure is lifted 18 metres into the air by a 40-tonne two stage telescopic ram located in the north abutment.
Fairfield Control Systems were responsible for the control of the three 132kW power packs that produce the maximum operating trust of 6581kN. The master PLC controls the lift operation from the north abutment, while the slave PLC controls the traffic and pedestrain barriers from the south abutment. Bridge diagnostics and promps are displayed to the operater by two HMI's.