Budget
£45–80k
Duration
24 weeks
Closes
24 Oct 2026
Background
The structure is a masonry viaduct of the 1870s carrying a route with more traffic and heavier axle loads than its builders contemplated. Routine examination has flagged deterioration. The renewal programme cannot accommodate it in this funding period, and the question is whether deferral can be justified on evidence.
We hold approximately fifty years of examination reports, a partial set of drawings and no material testing worth the name. We are willing to permit targeted coring and, subject to possession availability, a load test.
We want an assessment that states its confidence honestly. A comfortable number that later proves optimistic is considerably worse for us than an uncomfortable one now, and we will not treat an unfavourable conclusion as a failure of the work.
Scope
- Review fifty years of examination records and the available drawings.
- Design and supervise a targeted intrusive investigation, including coring.
- Characterise masonry, mortar and fill properties from recovered material.
- Assess capacity and remaining life against current loading, with confidence stated.
- Recommend a monitoring regime, with each instrument tied to a threshold and an action.
Constraints
The awkward facts, stated now rather than in week six.
- Site access is governed by our possession regime; windows are short and booked months ahead
- Intrusive investigation is permitted but strictly limited in extent
- The structure remains in service throughout
- Any recommended monitoring must be maintainable within our existing arrangements
Deliverables
- Records review with a documented deterioration history
- Intrusive investigation report and material characterisation data
- Capacity assessment against current loading with stated confidence bounds
- A defensible remaining-life opinion, including the case for deferral or against it
- Monitoring specification mapping each instrument to a threshold and an accountable action
Milestones
- Week 4Records review complete; investigation scope proposed
- Week 10Intrusive investigation executed within agreed possessions
- Week 18Material characterisation and capacity assessment reported
- Week 24Remaining-life opinion and monitoring specification delivered
Who should apply
- University group or consultancy with masonry assessment experience
- Demonstrated work on structures in service for an asset owner
- Chartered engineer as named technical lead
- Familiarity with possession-constrained site working
How applications will be judged
In roughly this order.
- Prior masonry assessments that informed an actual intervention decision
- Proposed use of the examination record, which we consider the primary evidence
- Realism about possession constraints and the limits of intrusive investigation
- Willingness to state confidence bounds rather than a single figure
Terms
- All deliverables and data belong to us; the provider may publish after two years with our consent
- The structure is not identified in any publication
- Recovered material is retained by us following characterisation
- Payment against the four milestones on acceptance of each
Apply
Tell the publisher who you are and what you would do. We pass it on. The rest is between grown-ups.
The examination records are extensive and available to shortlisted applicants. We suggest reading them before proposing an investigation scope.