Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW’s) Ashton Arch Bridge won the 2022 Fulton Award in the Infrastructure Greater Than R100m Project Value category and received a commendation in the Innovation and & Invention in Concrete category. Ashton Arch is South Africa’s first concrete tied arch bridge. It is 22m high.
It features a 110m deck suspended by stay cables that accommodates four lanes of traffic and two walkways. To minimise traffic disruption while construction was underway, Ashton Arch was built alongside the old 1930s multiarch bridge. On completion, this new 8 000-ton steel and concrete structure was transversally moved 24m into its final resting position in August 2021 – probably the first time this technique has been used on the African continent.
The Fulton Awards, which are held every two years, recognise and honour excellence in the design, use and innovation in the South African concrete industry. The winners were announced at a gala function in Johannesburg on 10 June, and the event, was for the first time, streamed live to satellite functions in Durban and Cape Town. The 2022 edition of the awards was originally scheduled to take place in 2021 but was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The winners in the other categories were:
- Infrastructure up to R100m Project Value - The modification of the Umhlatuzana River Bridge in Durban.
- Buildings Greater R50m Project Value - The Onyx apartment block in the Johannesburg city centre.
- Buildings Up to R50m Project Value - The KleinJAN Restaurant in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in the Northern Cape.
- Innovation & Invention in Concrete - The Old Cape Quarter apartment building in De Waterkant, Cape Town.