Landmarc and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) have opened a new footbridge between the North and South areas of Knook Camp on Salisbury Plain to create a safe pedestrian route across the B390 main arterial road, which connects Shrewton to the A36.
Knook Camp training camp is split into north and south areas that sit either side of the B390. It is used throughout the year by the regular army and the cadet force with capacity for some 720 exercising soldiers across the two locations.
The B390 is a busy road so, to prioritise the overall safety of local road users, employees and visiting units, a new pedestrian footbridge has been installed to enable safer transit between the two camps.
Lt Col Tim Jalland, Commander South West Defence Training Estate for Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) said, “The safety of estate users and our local communities is our absolute priority.
“Previously, local Army Cadet Forces have not been able to fully utilise Knook’s northern Camp due to safety issues linked to crossing the busy road, affecting training objectives. The new footbridge will now enable safe transit, allowing cadets and other Training Estate users to fully utilise both sides of the camp and the training areas on the north side of the Plain, whilst also protecting local road users.”
Robert Johns, Project Manager at Landmarc, added, “After some research, it was decided that installing a pedestrian footbridge would be the best way to provide safe passage for all those using the camps, which includes not only military training users but also Landmarc and DIO employees and local contractors. The benefit of a footbridge is that it completely removes the risk by separating pedestrians from road users, enabling them to cross safely without slowing down the traffic, which can also cause collisions.
“We have also future-proofed the camp by installing brackets along the bridge to carry trunking for various utility services. This means that if there’s a need for any future work to link the two camps, we won’t need to close the road to dig the appropriate trenches.”
Knook Camp’s southern site is located within the Cranbourne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), so the project team worked closely with the Cranbourne Chase AONB Board to ensure the design of the bridge complemented the local environment. Visual impact assessments from a range of different angles were a critical part of the process to ensure the design of the new bridge does not detract from the overall beauty of the area.
The new footbridge is also one of a number of recent improvements to the camp, which has received 10 new carbon-negative accommodation facilities through the Ministry of Defence’s Net-Zero Carbon Accommodation Programme (NetCAP).