Â鶹´«Ã½

Aerospace Bristol - Engineering Services

Bristol Aero Collection Trust wanted to develop a new heritage museum and learning centre on the edge of Filton Airfield in Bristol. The facility would not only celebrate the city¡¯s rich aviation history but also provide a home for the famous Concorde jet. Working with contractor Kier, we provided complete engineering design services for this project.

A key design challenge was to achieve the safe transfer of the Concorde into the new hangar. The use of a permanent K-brace arrangement in the main gable-end removed the need for costly and inefficient temporary support works. It also enabled a quicker zipping-up of the cladding envelope once the Concorde had been manoeuvered into place, saving both time and money.

Our geotechnical team delivered ground investigation work and undertook the temporary works design on the ramp to enable the Concorde to move into the new structure. We investigated the existing listed aircraft hangar, using cone penetration tests (CPT) to ascertain the strength of the soils directly beneath the existing floor slab. The data obtained allowed us to provide design information to our structural colleagues for the use of the existing floor and for the installation of new structures within the hangar.

The site needed a drainage network capable of coping with a 1-in-100-year rainfall event falling on such a large area of impermeable surface. We also wanted to reduced excavation into the concrete surface of the existing airfield to avoid costly re-instatement works. We achieved both goals by locating drainage in areas that needed to be excavated as part of the new building construction, and by utilising shallow and open drainage techniques as much as possible.

Aerospace Bristol, with the Concorde at its centre, draws together collections that span over a century of aviation history and technology, celebrating the achievements of the aerospace industry in Bristol and inspiring the next generation of engineers.