Gull Wing celebrated at The Concrete Society Awards 2025
We’re proud to announce that our Gull Wing Bridge project has been Highly Commended at the 57th Concrete Society Awards, one of the industry’s most respected platforms for celebrating technical excellence, innovation and quality in concrete.
The awards recognise projects that demonstrate outstanding design, construction and material performance across the UK and beyond.
Delivered by Farrans Construction for Suffolk County Council, the Gull Wing Bridge is a major new landmark for Lowestoft. The project features the world’s largest hydraulically operated rolling bascule span and showcases Farrans’ expertise in complex marine works, precision engineering and high-performance concrete delivery.
The judges said:
“From an engineering viewpoint, the project is first-class and the iconic beauty of Gull Wing Bridge is evident. Although the MagnaDense concrete played a crucial role within the envelope of the steel ‘wings’, it is concealed. The in-situ concrete used for the bridge piers and control room tower showed excellence in placement, with no visible honeycombing or blowholes. The heavyweight concrete used as the counterbalance was not visible as it was placed into the steel ‘wings’ of the bridge. However, the technicalities of designing this concrete to achieve +4000kg/m3 density were well documented.
The parapets for the road and railway sections of the bridge, and the bridge deck, were supplied as precast units and craned into position. The units were of excellent appearance.
A patterned profiled finish with chamfered edges was used for the bridge piers.
The control tower was cast in-situ with an exposed concrete finish and of a high standard, resulting in a very good finish with no obvious blemishes, as were the bridge piers and visible precast units.”
This commendation reflects the dedication of the teams, designers, supply chain partners and client, whose collaboration brought this ambitious structure to life.
The Gull Wing Bridge continues to strengthen connectivity, support regeneration and stand as an example of the quality and innovation Farrans brings to every project.