Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Gateshead Millennium Bridge - the world's first and only tilting bridge!
Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and engineered by Gifford, the bridge takes its place at the end of a line of distinguished bridges across the River Tyne, including the Tyne Bridge and Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge.
Linking Gateshead with Newcastle via Gateshead Quays (described as one of the best places in Europe by Tony Blair) and Newcastle's Quayside, the bridge not only serves a functional purpose as the River Tyne's only foot and cycle bridge, but its grace and engineering attract people from all over the world.


The bridge was lifted into place in one piece by the Asian Hercules II, one of the world's largest floating cranes, on 20 November 2000. It was opened to the public on 17 September 2001, and was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 May 2002. The bridge, which cost £22m to build, was part funded by the Millennium Commission and European Regional Development Fund. It was built by Volker Stevin.

Already acclaimed worldwide for its physical and aesthetic beauty, it has fast become a significant tourist attraction in its own right. The bridge was the focus of a Spencer Tunick installation on 17 July 2005.


The 130m long deck is parabolic in elevation and of steel box section that tapers in plan towards the centre of the deck. It carries a pedestrian footway that varies from 3m to 5m in width as well as a 2.5m cantilevered cycleway. The main arch is also parabolic in shape and tapers both in plan and elevation. Whilst small river craft can sail beneath the bridge, for larger craft the cable-stayed double-arched structure pivots at the abutments through an angle of 40 degrees to give the 25m navigational clearance as specified by the client, Gateshead Borough Council. At the fully open position the suspension cables lay horizontal holding the pair of arches together. Huge 14 tonne castings on either side support bearings which withstand the outward and radial thrusts imposed.


Six 450mm diameter Hydraulic rams (three on each side, each powered by a 55kW electric motor) rotate the bridge back on large bearings to allow small ships and boats (up to 25m tall) to pass underneath. The bridge takes as little as 4.5 minutes to rotate through the full 40° from closed to open, depending on wind speed. Its appearance during this manoeuvre has led to it being nicknamed the "Blinking Eye Bridge".

Photo by eloc

The construction of the bridge won the architects Wilkinson Eyre the 2002 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize and won Gifford the 2003 IStructE Supreme Award. In winning the Stirling Prize, Wilkinson Eyre became the first, and so far the only, firm of architects to retain British architecture's most prestigious prize — they won the 2001 prize for the Magna Science Adventure Centre. In 2005, the bridge received the Outstanding Structure Award from International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE).

The building cost was £22m.

Photo by borichar