Footbridge made from recycled fishing nets turns ‘standard’ engineering project into award-winner

The Twyford Footbridge Replacement in Kent has taken home two prizes at the 2026 ICE South East England Engineering Excellence Awards for demonstrating ingenuity in its approach to sustainability.

Winning the Best Project: Sustainability and Team of the Year awards, contractor Mackley had to think outside the box when traditional construction methods were ruled out early.

The site couldn’t support heavy plant, extensive foundations or vehicle access. As such, Mackley, working with the Environment Agency, came up with a low-impact solution to replace the ageing asset.

They delivered a new lightweight footbridge made from fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) that had been recycled from old fishing nets.

This approach cut carbon, protected the River Medley and respected the constraints of the floodplain.

The judging panel was impressed at the team’s considerate sustainability approach to what could have easily been a very 'standard' engineering project.

ICE President David Porter presented Mackley with their trophies at the awards ceremony, which was held at the Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel on 17 June.

From digital engineering to water sustainability and inspiring mentorship, the annual awards celebrated a region that is laying the groundwork for a conscious and more sustainable future.

Celebrating infrastructure that is improving lives

Jacobs’ A31 New Ocknell Culvert Digital Bat Survey also won an award on the night.

The consultancy took home the Best Project: Innovation prize for developing a safe, efficient and highly accurate method for undertaking ecological and structural surveys within a dangerous culvert environment.

The judges felt that this project showcased a scalable solution that can be adopted across the whole of the construction industry.

Dover Berth 9 Life Extension from the Dover Harbour Board became the 2026’s Best Project: Asset Resilience for South East England.

Berth 8 and 9 were built in 2004, and consist of hydraulically operated linkspans bridges, pedestrian access bridges and associated dolphin structures (marine structures that extend above water level but aren’t connected to shore).

However, their main hoisting (lifting) hydraulic cylinders were installed 20 years ago and hadn’t been overhauled since then.

The Dover team impressed the judges with their in-house expertise and close attention to safety throughout the full lifecycle of the asset.

Lewis Hubbard Engineering delivered an essential community project in the Camber Sands Welcome Centre and won the Best Infrastructure Project: Small award.

Positioned as a gateway to the beach, the development replaced outdated facilities with a resilient, inclusive and architecturally considered building that supports residents, visitors and coastal management operations year-round.

The judges appreciated the project’s:

• resilient drainage design;
• reuse of existing structures;
• use of low-carbon timber;
• coastal wind load engineering (so it can withstand strong winds); and
• robust detailing that exceeded sound insulation standards.

Herbosch-Kiere won the Best Infrastructure Project: Large prize for the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse Decommissioning.

The team removed this end-of-life offshore infrastructure (a well-known East Sussex landmark) through a controlled, assured methodology that complied with CDM (Construction Design and Management) 2015 regulations.

The judges were impressed with this project’s outstanding alignment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly;

• SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing)
• SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production)
• SDG 13 (climate action)
• SDG 14 (life below water)

The project achieved industry-leading circular economy performance with a reported 99.05% overall recycling rate and 99.96% recycling in its second phase.

The talent that makes it all possible

The annual awards also recognised the civil engineering professionals who make it happen.

ICE South East STEM Ambassador of the Year was awarded to Bradley Yates who impressed the judges with his dedication, as he’s been an active STEM Ambassador for over 30 years.

Apprentice Luna Richardson won the Rising Star of the Year award after she developed an appraisal tool for demountable flood barriers (temporary flood structures), which the Environment Agency will publish for national use alongside updated guidance.

The judges were impressed with her really high standards of professional conduct, integrity and teamwork in employment and voluntary activities.

James Cooper won Mentor of the Year as he showed good evidence of encouraging his mentees to embrace their own responsibility, look outside of where they are to grow as engineers, broaden their technical abilities and take on new challenges.

The ICE South East England Engineering Excellence Awards 2026 were supported by:

• Headline sponsor Volker Fitzpatrick
• Reception sponsor Balfour Beatty
• Category sponsors Mackley, Kilnbridge, Invvu and Port of Dover.