The Millennium Bridge

The Millennium Bridge is the first new bridge across the river Thames in London since Tower Bridge opened in 1894, and it is the first ever designed for pedestrians only. The bridge links the City of London near St Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern art gallery on Bankside. A long span bridge, as needed to cross the Thames at this point, is a pure expression of engineering structure.

A city centre footbridge, however, is equally about people and the environment - a piece of public architecture.

When considering a link between Tate Modern and St. Paul's Cathedral another element is vital: the pure sense of physical form that drives a sculptor.

The bridge opened initially on Saturday 10th June 2001. During this day and the next two days a huge amount of people crossed the bridge producing a sway movement that was far greater than expected; in order to fully investigate and resolve the issue the decision was taken to close the bridge on 12th June 2001.

It was re-opened on 27th February 2002. During that interval, extensive investigations and modifications were carried out to resolve the sway of the bridge. Research indicated that the sway had been caused by the accumulative sideways movement generated by large numbers of people crossing the bridge together. The solution involved installing dampers under the deck and between the deck and the river piers. This has provided an excellent solution as it does not detract from the aesthetic impact of the bridge as originally designed.

The nearest underground stations are Blackfriars or Mansion House, both on the Circle line and District line. The nearest mainline station is Blackfriars.

From the North side, approach the bridge along a path from Upper Thames Street, half way along the length of St Paul's Cathedral. From the South side, approach the bridge from the Tate Modern.

http://www.panoramicearth.com/83/London/Millennium_Bridge
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/millenniumbridge/index.htm
http://info.arup.com/millenniumbridge//index.html