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We are thrilled to announce that DYSE has been shortlisted for the prestigious NCE Bridge Consultant of the Year 2025 award. Since our first bridge design in 2020, DYSE has rapidly become a top consultant for specialist bridge builders and major contractors. We are honoured to be recognized alongside other leading established firms in the industry.

NCE Bridges Conference & Awards 2025 – Bridge Consultant of the Year 2025

Our reputation has been built so far on non-compromising solutions, technical excellence and a relentless focus on delivering outstanding results. We have developed a small but high-performing team of passionate and skilled designers are highly qualified and experienced.

We are looking to build on our reputation and success further and have an exciting set of projects landing in 2025 and onwards. If you would be interested in joining our journey please read more here:

Join Us | DYSE Structural Engineers

Earlier in the year we were thrilled that DYSE were appointed to be the designer of the superstructure of the reconstruction of The Tram Bridge. We are supporting Billington-based steelwork fabricator Harrisons Engineering who are providing a design and build service to Principal Contractor Eric Wright who are headquartered locally in Preston. The funding for the bridge is coming from part of Preston city’s Levelling Up funding.

The bridge has a fascinating history. It was originally built to carry a horse and cart trackway for coal waggons to be delivered to Preston, from the canal at Walton Summit into Preston. It was delivered initially as a timber bridge when John Rennie’s 1800 ambitious intial design for an aqueduct was deemed too costly. After separate deck and pier reconstructions, the bridge is now a concrete bridge, but has now been condemned due to deteriorating condition. The bridge is much loved by the locals. Indeed, the Friends of the Old Tramroad Bridge group has 2500+ members.

It an honour to be able to be trusted with the design of a bridge that is so loved by the locals of Preston. It is also a testament to DYSE’s building reputation that we are able to now secure such projects. DYSE has been delivering a number of footbridge, road bridge and vehicle bridges for specialist bridge builders in recent years.

The bridge was proposed to be four separate independent spans but our idea for a continuous bridge structure to provide a stiffer, more efficient and more durable construction helped to secure the job at tender stage. The bridge is now fully designed and Category 3 checked and is going through final assurance process with the local authority.

The bridge enabling works is already underway and visualisations of the concept have been circulating in the media:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-61066197

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-68510451

https://www.lep.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/only-one-choice-for-prestons-new-old-tram-bridge-and-here-it-is-4546520

https://www.bridgeweb.com/UK-Tram-Bridge-design-revealed/9367

The design has been fronted by our inspiring Senior Engineer Neus Ripoll with support from Graduate Engineer Fin Duffy won the audience vote at the Young Designer’s Competition at IABSE Future of Design Manchester 2024 on his use of parametric modelling for the bridge. Technical Director Barry Davies has delivered the full BIM for the bridge.

The design is being checked by DYSE collaborator Cake Engineering.

Credit to Preston based architect Studio John Bridge for the visualisation used in this article.

The steel frame at Matlock Fire Station has recently been completed. The two storey structure with adjacent appliance bay will provide a contemporary, sustainable facility to the serve the Derbyshire town of Matlock and the surrounding area. The DYSE team, including Senior Engineer Mark Saville and BIM Technician Ali Mackellar responsible for delivery, recently visited the site to inspect the steel frame.

This week Fin, Emily and Alex visited All Saints Primary School in Matlock, near to our replacement build Fire Station project we are undertaking for Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service. The Hawthorn and Lime class were treated to a structure building challenge our team set the Y5 pupils. We were very impressed with the structural designs and had a very enjoyable time sharing our love of engineering with these young aspiring engineers!

Last week some of the DYSE team (Andrus Kolossov, Emily Rowland and Alex Kirkman) visited a primary school in Matlock to talk about the replacement Fire Station which is currently under construction. The session introduced design focused careers, engineering and then ended with an interactive build challenge for the kids. We hope to have inspired some of the next generation of engineers! We will be visiting an additional two schools over the next few months.

The project won “Project Constructed Outside of the North West Region” at the IStructE Lancashire and Cheshire Regional Group’s North West Structural Awards. 

The award is given for an exemplary project of any size constructed outside the North West, designed in the North West. The project fought off stiff competition in the category.

DYSE developed a structural form that could span a canal in Birmingham Soho from the side of a new housing development only without bearing on the arch of a masonry arch bridge on the far side. A cantilever truss footbridge concept was developed. The solution allowed the re-purposing of the existing canal wall and the Eyre Street Basin bridge. The bridge was delivered as a single piece to site thought a busy construction site.

DYSE designed the bridge and also a novel temporary works design to make the bridge stable before being held down.

More details can be found on the project page: https://dyse.com/projects/soho-loop/

Our 2023 summer trip was a visit to Birmingham in July.

Highlights included visiting our new 19m fully cantilever footbridge by canal, touring some of the city centre’s new development and heritage buildings with watercolor breaks in the sun and an immersive VR experience.

Earlier this week, some of our buildings team visited our Cringle Road development. The scheme brings 57 houses to the area. We undertook civil and structural design of the entire scheme including the houses, private drainage, SuDS, S104 drainage, S38 roads and S278 works. A huge thanks to our client Towerhouse Systems who gave us an enthusiastic tour of the entire scheme.

Last week DYSE directors Ed Dablin and Jonny Yusuf attended the Trans City Rail Dinner. Following a day long conference, the dinner brings together rail professionals across the North West, to reflect on the future of the profession. Thanks to Ruth Jackson Planning for hosting us.

During September, the DYSE team took two days out from our usual work schedule to visit North Wales. Our 4th annual summer trip took in structures of historic significance before a kayaking trip through the Snowdonia National Park.

Earlier in the year, students at the Derby High School Bury presented at a Friends of The Derby meeting. They talked about their ambitious project to turn a decommissioned Transport for Greater Manchester bus into a sustainable student leadership hub.

Their vision for the hub: a carbon-neutral classroom space. This student-led space will enable students to plan and deliver environmental workshops for their peers and local primary schools. It will become their student leadership headquarters and home to the student newspaper, radio and podcast station.

The students’ Changemaker story captivated DYSE. We met and discussed the students’ plans. Together along with our friends at Grange and C.Foster Electrical, we felt that the students’ project deserved our support.

After 6 months of planning and installation we are proud to announce that the carbon-neutral Bus is now officially open and will welcome students in the next academic year and beyond.

Last month, the students presented their project to hundreds of visitors at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. They have also presented their work to Mayor Andy Burnham at The Great Science Share at The Manchester University.

We can also delighted that the school have won a BBC Regenerators Hall of Fame award for Best Secondary School Climate Champions in the UK. Look out for team on your screens in September.

We’re delighted to share some promotions to start off the New Year. Barry Davies has been promoted to Associate Director and will continue to lead our BIM team. Alongside this, Andrus Kolossov has been promoted to Engineer.

With the annual trip sadly cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the team took an extended visit this year. It was not only a great opportunity to let the hair down following the end DYSE Year 4 but to also exploit the engineering heritage of the city.

Highlights included:

* Jonny Yusuf’s walking tour of old town Edinburgh exploring historic and contemporary architecture.

* A trip to see the three long span bridges crossing the forth estuary led by Ed Dablin drawing from his experiences on working on the two road briges.

* Bowling, ping pong and pool.

* Plenty of local delicacies from haggis to deep fried mars bars

Owing to Covid restrictions, we reluctantly postponed our annual summer trip for 2021. Instead, last Friday, the DYSE team set off on a walking tour around Manchester to take in some of the buildings, bridges and other interesting sites in and around our city. Highlights included the Ordsall Chord and the small bright red pillar post box which survived the 1996 Manchester bombing virtually unscathed.

At the end of January we were excited to welcome Stephen Walsh to the DYSE team. Stephen is a Chartered Civil Engineer and joins us as a Senior Engineer bringing a varied experience particularly in civil and bridge engineering to the team.

We are starting the year in a new studio space only a stone’s throw away from our previous, still within the Northern Quarter. It has plenty of space for us to stretch our wings, and for the time being is a perfect space for a Covid safe workplace; though we are predominantly working from home right now. Regardless, we have put our makers down and have enjoyed putting our own stamp on the place ready to welcome a return to some normality.

Last week Matty presented a talk about his experience in entering Structural Engineering to a combined group of Physics and Engineering students at the University of Salford.

After graduating from the University of Manchester School of Physics & Astronomy, Matty began working for DYSE in November 2018 and was able to provide valuable advice to the students on why and how to enter Structural Engineering. The talk was held as part of a wide series of career talks to the students .

Barry Davies is no stranger to DYSE. Having previously worked with Jonny Yusuf, he now joins DYSE as an Associate. With almost 15 years of experience in the industry Barry has been involved in a wide range of projects in both the private and commercial sector. Having spent his last 6 years working as the UK BIM Manager for a multi-national engineering consultancy, he has specialist expertise in the detailing of post tensioned concrete design solutions including work on projects such as the £83m International Convention Centre in Wales. His past roles also include working for steel fabricators, general consulting engineers and in the involvement of telecommunications overseas as well as contemporary residential and commercial buildings such as the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester and the Aldar Headquarters in Dubai.

We are therefore delighted to welcome Barry to the team who, with all his experience and capabilities, will be leading on the technical detailing and coordination of projects.

On Saturday Mark and Matty volunteered their time to help run Chain:20 in Manchester as members of the Institution of Structural Engineers Young Members Group Lancashire & Cheshire.

Chain:20 is a free annual multi-disciplinary event for young engineers helping them to shape their futures. Through a series of inspirational talks from an extremely broad range of engineers and institutions (NASA, IMechE, IPowerE, ICE, IStructE were all represented), students were shown the vast possibilities for a career in engineering. Topics discussed included the new Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers, the future of UK construction sequences of spacecraft testing, and general career talk, discussion and motivation.

Throughout all levels at DYSE we are passionate about volunteering with engineering institutions. For more information about events ran by IStructE Young Members follow the link below to their linkedin profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/istructe-ymg-lancashire-and-cheshire-230279191/

Last week some of our engineers and technicians attended a site visit at The Factory, Manchester, led by BuroHappold Engineering and Laing O’Rourke and which was organised by the Young Members Committee of the Lancashire and Cheshire IStructE region.

The Factory, which is being constructed on the former site of Granada Studio, is a £110 million multi-disciplinary arts venue set for completion in summer 2021. The walkover showcased the complex engineering entailed within the project and it’s unique challenges and constraints. Among the notable engineering feats witnessed included a 14m cantilevered concrete box structure for the purpose of a truck lift and as well as bespoke steel I section columns subject to axial loads of up of 32000kN!

We are excited to have witnessed such an amazing project and its intricate engineering during the construction phase.

We’re absolutely delighted to be sponsoring this years IABSE Future of Design conference. IABSE is the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering. It’s members are designers, constructors, researchers, clients and others including many of the UK’s most influential and inspirational engineers.

The 16th Future of Design conference will this year be held in Manchester on 17/04/2020. The conference is aimed at fostering creative innovation and inspiring the next generation of designers. For more information on the conference visit: http://iabse.org.uk/event/fodmanchester20/

Founded in Zurich in 1929, IABSE is a long established and highly regarded international association whose members include many of the world’s leading practitioners, academics and researchers. IABSE is the pre-eminent international Association dedicated to sharing and disseminating structural engineering knowledge and expertise among its members, and the British Group those members currently working in the UK.

Last weekend the pedestrian footbridge over the Bridgewater Canal was lifted into place. The bridge links the Manchester landmark development, Axis Tower, to Whitworth Street. The bridge is the last major piece of structure to the Axis development.

DYSE undertook temporary works design and checking for the installation of the pedestrian footbridge for our client Russells Construction.

Photo credits: Russells Construction

We recently held a climate emergency workshop at #edgestreetengineers. The team reviewed the UN Sustainable Development Goals before discussing ways to address the climate change crisis in both our design and how our business operates. Out of the workshop we have set some goals which we will be implementing in our designs in the coming months

We have recently signed “Structural Engineers Declare” to show our commitment to tackling the climate emergency. Over the coming weeks we will be reviewing the ways in which we design and practice as engineers, and hoping to collaborate with other engineers to address the emergency.

www.structuralengineersdeclare.com

We recently teamed up with our friends and regular collaborators Studio One to visit Newcastle for our second annual summer trip. We experienced some culture at the Baltic Centre and The Sage, before Ed Dablin led us on a bridge tour starting with the most recent edition to the Tyne, the Gateshead Millenium Bridge, then working our way back in time.

The day finished with drinks and games. We were very fortunate to make friends the bridge master of the Millenium Bridge who gave us a impromptu tour of the bridge bearings!

DYSE director, Jonny Yusuf, recently spent a day in the Arts Tower at the University of Sheffield tutoring to fifth and sixth year Architecture and Landscape Architecture students.

The architecture students are currently approaching the deadline for their final project. The team at DYSE thoroughly enjoy being involved in the education of future built environment professionals. A strong collaboration between students, practising professionals and academics is vital to continuing development of all professions.

We were thrilled to recently hear that planning permission & listed building consent has now been achieved by the team working for Manchester Gin to create a new distillery, cocktail bar & restaurant in six listed vaults on Watson Street in central Manchester. We’re looking forward to delivering the venue later this year with our friends UpNorth Architects leading the team.

Last week the DYSE team attended the 14th Future of Design conference ran by IABSE (International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering). The full day conference was held in Birmingham and is aimed as promoting innovation and inspiring young engineers.

The day consisted of key note presentations, a papers competition and interactive workshops and was rounded off with a drinks reception and three course dinner. Our very own Ed Dablin, as British Executive Board Member, chaired the last keynote session of the day.

DYSE are absolutely delighted to have recently been named as one of the top 100 companies to work for in the #NCE100 power list 2019.

The NCE100 Power List recognises the most forward-thinking, innovative firms operating in civil engineering today. These are the firms that are doing the right things, in the right way, to deliver the outcomes that benefit society.

Co-founding DYSE Director Ed Dablin said ‘For DYSE to be recognised in our infancy is a huge achievement. It demonstrates the importance of our people and recognises the great environment and culture which we are developing which ultimately results in us delivering great engineering. It is a very welcome surprise and something we plan to build on in the coming years.’

http://100awards.newcivilengineer.com/nce-100-power-list

Just after Christmas, the tower crane at Axis was dismantled. DYSE undertook temporary works design and checking for the 500T mobile crane which was used to dismantle the tower crane.

Axis is a 29-storey landmark tower in the centre of Manchester housing 170 one and two bedroom luxury apartments. The building is located on a very restricted site in between the Metrolink and a canal lock. The tower, designed by Jon Matthews Architects, is constructed from a reinforced concrete frame.

Architecture isn’t exclusive. Architecture touches everyone. Everyone comes into contact with Architecture on a daily basis; from waking up in a house, to going to work through a transport terminal, to spending a day in the office. The buildings that we live, work and play in have the power to change how we feel, and how we exist in the world around us. Perhaps the most important architecture people interact with is their own home.

For thousands of years, mankind has developed its architecture, constantly challenging limitations and evolving what has gone before. These limitations include how high we build, how far we span, and what we build with. The driving powers behind this have included religion (building the biggest churches or mosques), evolution (building larger and more technological mills), and commercial gain (building the most profitable).

Yet, for the last few centuries, very little has changed in residential architecture. Britain is scattered with houses that have changed little apart from minor aesthetic variations. We live in medium density housing, on pavement lined streets that have hardly changed since the industrial revolution. If anything, our architecture has become more and more pastiche, blending Tudor, Georgian and Victorian ‘styles’ into the same terraced, semi and detached houses. This is architecture that is not of its time, but stuck in a bygone age.

We now have the opportunity to build light filled, technologically advanced and sustainable contemporary homes to accompany our modern day life. Yet profit driven developers churn out housing estate after housing estate of vaguely discernible brick built boxes, squeezed into plots the size of postage stamps.

More and more, we unavoidably have to sacrifice greenfield sites to supply the ever growing demand for housing as our population increases. Surely we should be justifying this sacrifice by offering architecture that delights and is also good for the environment and thus society. The architecture we offer should belong to the place and time. The architecture we offer should be enjoyed by those that experience it.

The building heritage of today is centred on pushing the boundaries of construction. Of course we should preserve this heritage such that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy this. Yet if we don’t also embrace contemporary design, we are missing the opportunity to create the heritage of tomorrow.

One line of thought would be to build in keeping with the existing, to conceal the architecture of today as architecture of the past. But does this really reflect the nature and history of our communities? By masking what we build today, we marginalise the historic and cultural significance of the existing. Contemporary design provides the opportunity to highlight and accommodate the differences and embrace what is now.

We can only hope that more people will begin to recognise and embrace change, rather than resist it. If we take this opportunity, we have the chance to create a more positive, enjoyable, sustainable future that we can all experience.

Images: Courtesy of Kelsall Architects https://www.kelsallarchitects.com/
Image 1: Whitworth Art Gallery, UK. McInnes Usher McKnight Architects
Image 2: Wood House, UK. Kelsall Architects
Image 3: Wozoco, Netherlands. MVRDV

Carrying on with the theme of sketching, this month we’ve presented a session on scheming and drawing to candidates preparing to take the Institution of Structural Engineers Chartership Exam.

The gruelling 7.5-hour exam requires candidates to develop the design of a structure including two concept designs, and then progressing through to detailed calculations, drawings and sequencing, all within one day!

Good luck to all those sitting the exam in July.

This month DYSE director Jonny Yusuf begins his annual stint at the University of Manchester where he is a guest lecturer. Jonny lectures half a day a week during semester two on the MSc course in Structural Engineering leading a design focused module guiding students through a ‘real life’ design project.

At DYSE we think is incredibly important to engage with the wider engineering industry and commit time to developing the engineers of the future.

As a design led, collaborative engineering practice, we use sketches to convey ideas during the design process. Our regular collaborators and clients know us for our colourful, if not sometimes rough sketches. We believe that sketching allows us to really get to understand a problem and come up with the best structural solution. We encourage sketching at the early stages of a project when concepts are being found, and during the development of a project to work through tricky details. As engineers we aren’t formally trained in drawing unlike the Architects we frequently collaborate with, so issuing a hand drawn sketch can be somewhat daunting at first.

We were delighted to be recently asked to host a sketching workshop for the young members of the Lancashire and Cheshire Regional Group. The sketching workshop, on the back of a previously successfully delivered workshop, was presented by DYSE director Jonny Yusuf and help at Arup’s Manchester office. Over twenty attendees participated in hands on sketching exercises as Jonny went through his sketching process in a workshop focused on releasing those sketching inhibitions!

Last week we attended the annual Hot Pot Supper hosted by the Institution of Structural Engineer’s Lancashire and Cheshire Regional Group at Lancashire County Cricket Club.

The event is attended by over 100 structural engineers within the region and is a chance to catch up with old friends and colleagues.

The event is also attended by the Chief Executive of the Institution to give an update of the Institution to the regional group. This year was especially important as DYSE director Jonny Yusuf was handing the reign of his chairmanship of 2017 to the incoming chair Charlotte Rourke of Mott MacDonald. We wish Charlotte the very best of luck in guiding the regional group forward through 2018!

Last weekend, DYSE Director Ed Dablin joined the ‘International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering’ (IABSE) study tour to Madrid. Ed joined Engineers and Architects from across Europe for a pilgrimage to some of Madrid’s most interesting structures.

Highlights form the trip included guided visits to the Eduardo Torroja’s Zarzuela Hippodrome, the plethora of new bridges of Madrid Rio development and the hyperbolic paraboloids of the roof of Felix Candela’s Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church.

You can find out more about IABSE and the activities of the British Group here http://iabse.org.uk/

Over the last few weeks we’ve been counting down on social media to our launch date. Having donned our party hats to celebrate we are now getting our pencils and calculators out to do some real work. As we are now open for business please get in touch – we would love to help your project.

We will still be posting though so connect with us to follow our start-up journey on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Recently our start-up has been featured in Place North West. Read the news article here https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/structural-engineers-launch-two-man-startup/.