Stuart Hercus, Principal Engineer

My role is to lead the Arcadis team that is on site for the Rochester Bridge Refurbishment Project.

The team is responsible for working with the contractor on site to ensure the project is built in accordance with the design, while meeting the Rochester Bridge Trust’s objectives of achieving the highest level of quality, respecting the heritage nature of the assets, and minimising disruption.

My area of expertise is the design and assessment of steel and concrete structures (contrary to popular belief the bowstring trusses of the Old Bridge are made of steel), in particular the maintenance, refurbishment and strengthening of existing bridges.

I am most looking forward to seeing the designs we have worked on go from being drawings on a piece of paper to something real, which will restore and enhance the bridges and surrounding area so they continue to serve the public for another 100 years. It’ going to be an interesting challenge, in particular for accessing all the different parts of the bridges. There are lots of areas inside and underneath the structures that can’t be seen from the road above but that still need to be accessed as part of this refurbishment. Some of these spaces are very small and others are high above the ground (or in this case water).

Away from work, I’m a keen guitar player. I mainly play electric, but every couple of months I play acoustic at an open mic night, accompanied by my sister (who sings) and my dad (who plays bass). We do covers of anything from Green Day to The Drifters!