| Name | Gateshead Millennium Bridge, England |
|---|---|
| Who | |
| Owner | Gateshead Metroploitan Borough Council |
| Design | Gifford and Partners |
| Architects | Wilkinson Eyre Architects |
| Contractor | Harbour & General in Joint Venture (JV) with Volker Wessels Stevin. Steel Contractor: Watson Steel with sub-contrator Kvaerner Markham for mechanical and hydraulic system. |
| Where | |
| Latitude | N 54 58' 11" |
| Longitude | W 1 35' 57" |
| When | 2001 |
| Why | Pedestrian tilting bridge over River Tyne connecting Gateshaed and Newcastle-on-Tyne. |
| What | Read more..... |
| How to read the bridge | Read more..... |
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| What | |
|---|---|
| Overall type | Bowstring arch with deck curved in plan that can rotate and open like an eyeleid to allow ships to pass. |
| Width | 8 m. |
| Length | 126 m. |
| Main span | 105 m. |
| Height of arch | 50 m. |
| Materials | Steel |
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| How to read the bridge | Read more about the book metaphor... |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1 | Suspension system |
| Paragraphs | Arch: Kite shaped cross section tapering in plan and elevation. Supporting cables: Group of 18 stay cables. |
| Sentences | Arch: Box girder with internal stiffeners both longitudinally and laterally.
Hemispherical inserts suitably oriented into the plane of the cables to anchor them.
The arch was fabricated in 9 segments and welded on the quayside. Cables: Each of the 18 stay cables. |
| Words | Arch: Steel plate 35 mm thickness. Stiffeners welded to make box section segements. Anchor pieces. Cables: Galvanised wires form strands for the cables. |
| Letters | Steel: Iron, carbon with other additives such as chromium etc Concrete: Cement, sand, aggregate and water Reinforced concrete: Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension where it has to be reinforced with steel bars |
| Chapter 2 | Deck |
| Paragraphs | Curved deck provides sufficient headroom with acceptable slope for pedestrians. Complex shape with separate walkway and cycleway. Walkway is a box girder which tapers in plan from quayside to centre. The constant width cycleway is is about 300 mm. lower than the walkway. It is supported on cantilever transverse steel beams at about 3 m. spacing which radiate outwards and are covered by a lightweight aluminium deck plate. |
| Sentences | The deck was fabricated in 13 segements and welded on the quayside. |
| Words | Steel plate and stiffeners welded to make box section segements. Anchor pieces. |
| Letters | Steel: Iron, carbon with other additives such as chromium etc Concrete: Cement, sand, aggregate and water Reinforced concrete: Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension where it has to be reinforced with steel bars |
| Chapter 3 | Lifting gear |
| Paragraphs | The arch and deck unite at each end and through which there is a transverse cylindrical shaft. The shaft is supported on spherical bearings at each end. A substantial steel 'paddle' extends downwards from the cylinder and is connected to horizontal hydraulic rams. The bridge opens when the rams push against the paddle forcing the bridge to rotate about 40 degrees. Because the centre of mass of the bridge passes over the pivot point the rams have to be able to pull the bridge back. |
| Chapter 4 | Foundations |
| Paragraphs | Piles: 14 bored piles of 1.5 m. diameter used. Steel fendering piles carry floating booms. Two reinforced concrete foundation structures built within sheet piles cofferedams accommodate plant rooms, stairway, sumps and hydraulic rams |
| Grammar | Technically the bridge is a way of taking forces from up in the air down to the ground.
So imagine the flow of those forces through the structure.
Think of a person standing on the brdge and how his weight is transmitted through the bridge to the ground. Read more about arch bridges..... Read more about suspended bridges..... |
| Erection | The bridge was assembled on the river bank and lifted into place using the largest inshore crane in the world at that time.
|
| References | Clark G M, Eyre J, "The Gateshead Millennium Bridge",
The Structural Engineer, Vol 79, No 1, 2001, 30-35 |
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