A decision was made to make the bridge entirely of European oak. As it was going to prove difficult to obtain full length, curving trees of this scale Price & Myers developed an idea of having just two beams with stainless steel brackets supporting a number of cross beams. This was discarded as we wanted to build as much as possible with wood. Another Price & Myers idea was to have each beam made into three sections, joined by an internal stainless steel plate. McMorran & Gatehouse, architects, decided that the beam was not going to flex enough with internal steel plates. So we were back to the full length design concept. McMorran and Gatehouse posed the idea of laminating the oak. I had experience of lamination in my workshop. This was not to prove possible after following research papers emanating from USA and discussions with eminent and most helpful American researchers. Trials had been made on a small scale which would be risky to consider for the length of bridge we had proposed.
What we were trying to do was to come up with a new design which would work and could be costed accurately and constructed without any surprises. This was the first timber bridge that Price & Myers' 3D department had designed. Eventually we arrived at a design which we were all happy to take forward with confidence, and which received approval from the client.
