As we’re now in to month 8 of 2025 we’re excited to welcome Zara to GB Card & Partners. Zara joined, as an Engineer, in the Spring and has hit the ground running getting involved with a myriad of GB Card’s exciting projects.

With over four years’ experience of geotechnical and geoenvironmental projects across the UK Zara is proving to be a great asset to the company.

To discuss any projects with Zara, please email zchand@gbcardandpartners.com.

GB Card & Partners is proud to announce its nomination for the CN Specialists Awards in the fiercely contested Technology Innovation category. The nomination recognises GBCP’s innovative Card Deck™ hybrid raft technology, which was developed to enable construction at a challenging regeneration initiative in Kent.

The project is transforming a former quarry site into a vibrant new community that includes some 800 homes, a primary school, and an ecology park.

GBCP’s Card Deck™ technology has been hailed as a game-changing advancement in the engineering sector, offering viable solutions for projects previously deemed unfeasible due to high developmental costs and challenging geological conditions.

Dr. Geoffrey B. Card, Chief Executive of GB Card & Partners, expressed his pride in the nomination: “I am proud that our small and dynamic company has been recognised by the CN Specialists Awards judges who have shortlisted us for this award, particularly given the calibre and quality of our fellow finalists. The nomination is a tribute to the inspired thinking and admirable professionalism which led to the creation of our Card Deck™ technology.”

The Card Deck™ technology represents a significant advancement in geotechnical engineering, enabling the development of sites where traditional structural solutions and mitigation strategies would have been impractical. By overcoming scientific and technological uncertainties, GBCP has created a design concept with immense potential for future UK and global projects.

Established in 2010, GBCP boasts a distinguished national and international reputation for its expertise in solving complex civil and environmental engineering challenges. Comprising chartered professionals with backgrounds in engineering, geology, and the sciences, the consultancy has continually delivered innovative solutions across construction and development sectors.

The winners of the CN Specialists Awards will be announced on 02 September at the Lancaster Hotel in London.

For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact:

Brian Smith Associates Limited

Email: brian@briansmithassociates.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)7770 277 010

GB Card & Partners (GBCP), the award-winning civil engineering company based in London, Kent and Devon, made members and enthusiasts of the Swanage Railway very happy recently when carrying out emergency works on a damaged Victorian era Bridge in Stoborough, Dorset.

The bridge, situated between Wareham and Corfe Castle, was damaged in August last year when hit by an oversized skip lorry. The damage caused the bridge to be closed to railway operations and meant that the connection from the mainline at Wareham through to Swanage was severed.

The brick and iron bridge, built in 1884, is part of the ten-mile section of the railway line between Worgret Junction and Swanage, upon which heritage and special event passenger trains regularly operate. The Swanage Railway boosts the surrounding Purbeck economy by more than £15m a year.

GBCP were appointed as consulting engineers to assess the damage and to determine what repairs were necessary to return the bridge to operational use.

GBCP were commissioned to carry out a detailed examination of the bridge and design and supervise the necessary repairs to reinstate the necessary load capacity to meet Network Rail and Dorset Council standards.

“We conducted a comprehensive examination of the bridge and determined that repairs were feasible and  straightforward”, said GBCP Chief Executive Dr. Geoff Card. “Our examination revealed that the wrought iron structure of the bridge was in pleasantly good condition, but that a complete replacement of the timber deck and wheel bearing timbers were required as a result of the bridge strike”.  New 11.5m rail bearing timbers had to be purchased and installed.

Dr Card is an industry expert on heritage railway lines and is a volunteer engineering consult to the West Somerset, Swanage, Spa Valley, and Bluebell railways.

Aa 130m-stretch of Grange Road between Stoborough and Creech was closed for 5 days to allow the works to be carried out.

GBCP senior engineer Dylan Wendorf-Brown was put in charge of overseeing the works and ensuring the project was completed in the allocated time frame.

To complete the works, all metal girders and handrails of the bridge were cleaned and painted.