A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right. Small swing bridges as found over canals may be pivoted only at one end, opening as would a gate, but require substantial underground structure to support the pivot.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead arts quarter on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne's Quayside area on the north bank. It was the first tilting bridge ever to be constructed. Opened for public use in 2001, the award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architectural practice WilkinsonEyre and structural engineering firm Gifford. The bridge is sometimes called the 'Blinking Eye Bridge' or the 'Winking Eye Bridge' due to its shape and its tilting method. The Millennium Bridge stands as the twentieth tallest structure in the city, and is shorter in stature than the neighbouring Tyne Bridge.
The year 2001 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Arup is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. It employs about 17,000 people in over 90 offices across 35 countries, and has participated in projects in over 160 countries.
The Magna Science Adventure Centre is an educational visitor attraction, appealing primarily to children, located in the former Templeborough steelworks in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
WilkinsonEyre is an international architecture practice based in London, England. In 1983 Chris Wilkinson founded Chris Wilkinson Architects, he partnered with Jim Eyre in 1987 and the practice was renamed WilkinsonEyre in 1999. The practice has led the completion of many high-profile projects such as Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Cooled Conservatories Gardens by the Bay, Oxford's Weston Library and Guangzhou International Finance Center.
Buro Happold Limited is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment. It was founded in Bath, Somerset, in 1976 by Sir Edmund Happold when he took up a post at the University of Bath as Professor of Architecture and Engineering Design.
The Weald and Downland Gridshell (2002) is a building designed by Buro Happold and Edward Cullinan Architects for the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum: it was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2002. The building is a structural wooden gridshell, constructed of oak sourced from Normandy, and cladded with local cedar. Before constructing the gridshell, members of Buro Happold and the Cullinan practice-built a prototype during their own time on weekends. This was also a self-supporting gridshell, and was used as a temporary entrance canopy on the Pompidou Centre.
Christopher John Wilkinson was a British architect and co-founder of the architecture firm WilkinsonEyre. He was known for his techno-centric designs and execution of projects ranging from office spaces, factory floors, skyscrapers to botanical gardens. Some of his projects included the Magna Science Adventure Centre, Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Guangzhou International Finance Center, and the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.
The Institution of Structural Engineers' Structural Awards have been awarded for the structural design of buildings and infrastructure since 1968. The awards were re-organised in 2006 to include ten categories and the Supreme Award for structural engineering excellence, the highest award a structural project can win.
The Infinity Bridge is a public pedestrian and cycle footbridge across the River Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in northern England. The bridge is situated one kilometre downriver of Stockton town centre, between the Princess of Wales Bridge and the Tees Barrage. It connects the Teesdale Business Park and the University of Durham's Queen's Campus in Thornaby-on-Tees on the south bank of the Tees with the Tees Valley Regeneration's £320 million North Shore development on the north bank.
Bryggebroen is one of the new bicycle/pedestrian bridges in Copenhagen inner harbour and is a 190 metres (620 ft) combined pedestrian and bicyclist bridge directed east-west. The bridge is joined to Kalvebod Brygge and Cykelslangen bridge (west) and Islands Brygge (east) and thus connects Vesterbro on Zealand and Amager. The bridge has become a popular place for attaching love padlocks.
Langebro is a bascule bridge across the Inner Harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Zealandside H. C. Andersens Boulevard to Amagerside Amager Boulevard. It is one of only two bridges to carry motor vehicles across the harbour in central Copenhagen, the other being Knippelsbro.
The year 2011 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
The Peace Bridge is a cycle and foot bridge across the River Foyle in Derry, Northern Ireland. It opened on 25 June 2011, connecting Ebrington Square with the rest of the city centre. It is the newest of three bridges in the city, the others being the Craigavon Bridge and the Foyle Bridge. The 235 metres (771 ft) bridge was designed by AECOM, who also designed the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge, and Wilkinson Eyre Architects, who also designed the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Media City Footbridge is a swing-mechanism footbridge over the Manchester Ship Canal near MediaCityUK. It is an asymmetric cable-stayed swing bridge and was completed in 2011. It was designed by Gifford and Wilkinson Eyre.
The year 2012 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
The Living Bridge is a pedestrian bridge across the River Shannon linking the University of Limerick’s premises in County Limerick and County Clare.
Dyson Institute Village was built in 2019 on the outskirts of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, to provide on-campus student housing for the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. The village was designed as a number of stacked studio apartment modules by London architects WilkinsonEyre, and modelled after Montreal's Habitat 67. The pods are constructed from cross-laminated timber (CLT) and each pod is wrapped in aluminium. A feature of the modular system is that each pod is connected to the others with only four bolts.
Scale Lane Footbridge is an apostrophe-shaped pedestrian swing bridge in Hull, England. The bridge has a rotating mechanism, allowing it to swing open horizontally, letting vessels pass beneath on the River Hull. It was the first bridge in the world to allow pedestrians to remain on the bridge while it is in motion.
