News: Rotherham design experts and the Kelpies of Scotland

Bennett Associates in Rotherham has been awarded the contract for the development of a new displacement sea lock on the River Carron, Scotland and will help to bring a mythical Celtic animal to life.


The lock will feature two gigantic equine sculptures and will become the centrepiece for the £45m Helix Project, a joint venture between Falkirk Council, British Waterways and the Central Scotland Forest Trust to transform unused land between Falkirk and Grangemouth.

The 30m high structures were designed by Scottish artist Andy Scott and are inspired by the Kelpie - a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland.

Sculpted as though captured in movement, the horses will move to create the displacement of water required to operate the lock and lift vessels from one section of the canal to the other.

It will be down to experts at Bennett to design of all engineering aspects of the structures including the operational mechanism, the new lock, gates and walkways as well as providing the technical supervision of the fabrication and erection of the sculptures.

A key challenge will be to effectively translate the artist's concept sculpture into a full scale functional structure.

Bennett were also responsible for the design engineering behind the impressive Falkirk Wheel boatlift.

Bennett was bought by Atkins in 2008 and the Rotherham site is considered a centre of excellence within the Atkins Group.

Atkins Bennett website
Rotherham

Images: bennettmg.co.uk / falkirkonline.net