Newcastle United

If anyone is in the slightest bit interested, it was my birthday last weekend. In celebration, a bunch of us went to Newcastle, mainly because I had never visited the city before, but mainly because I wanted to have a look at the Gateshead Milllennium Bridge.

The Architects for the bridge were Wilkinson Eyre who were charged with certain parameters. The footbridge had to go up to a certain height above the water, but the width of the river meant that the rise would be too steep. The solution was to extend the length of the footbridge by extending it down river. This left the problem of how to support a structure that is curved both on plan and on elevation. It is probably well known now, but the solution came to the Architects when one saw the other blink, resulting in the nickname the Winking Eye Bridge.

That’s not the end of it. The bridge also had to open to let shipping through, so the two arches rotate, also giving the impression of an eye. But the centre of gravity of the bridge moves across the axis of rotation as it goes up, meaning the pumps have to push for one section of the lift and pull for the other. This is then reversed when the bridge returns to its original position.

All in all a thing of beauty that did not disappoint when seen in the flesh, so to speak.

Still, I could have done that!