Blink and You'll Miss It
Gateshead 'Blinking Eye' Millennium Bridge
The world's first and only tilting bridge is the most recent addition to the many bridges which provides a pedestrian and cycle link between Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides. The bridge has already won many design awards for its unique structure and lighting, and is recognised worldwide as a symbol of the north-east.
In 1996 Gateshead council began a competition to design a new bridge, for pedestrian and cycle use, to link Gateshead Quays with Newcastle Quayside. The design brief specified that the bridge had to allow ships to pass underneath, and must not obstruct the quaysides or overshadow the already world famous view of the existing bridges. The winning design was submitted by Wilkinson & Eyre Architects and Gifford & Partners.
The bridge consists of two steel arches. One arch forms the deck which lies almost horizontally over the river. This arch comprises of a pedestrian deck, and a cycle deck set about 1 foot lower to allow for higher guard for the cyclists and clear views over the river from either deck. The second arch is the supporting deck which arches over the river attached to the first by steel cables. Precision engineering and careful counterbalancing of the two arches allow the bridge to tilt in about 4.5 minutes using minimal electric power, giving the effect of a blinking eye. The rbidge has an innovative design which also allow it to tidy itself. Each time the bridge tilts, and litter falls into special traps at either end of the bridge.
The lighting of the bridge was also specially designed. The arch over the river is lit with high power lights which can change to either light the bridge white, or in a spectrum of colours. The pedestrian and cycle deck and the balustrade are lit with a string of LED's which use minimal electricity while the underside of the deck is lit to give a mirror image effect in the slow moving Tyne. When the bridge is to be tilted a siren is sounded and red LED's set into the ground light up a no entry symbol, when it is safe to cross green LED's light up a 'go' arrow.
The bridge was fabricated at Watson Steel in Bolton and transported in sections to AMEC in Wallsend where it was welded together and painted with a weather resistant paint. The finished bridge was then transported 6 miles up the river by Europe's lergest floating crane - the Asian Hercules II. On the 20th November 2000 the bridge underwent its first ever tilt, watched by about 36,000 people.
Submitted by: Vicky Harper, 06 December 2005
