Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a spectacular World Class experience not to be missed. British designed and assembled in the North East of England, it is the world’s first tilting bridge and the first to carry only pedestrians and cycle traffic over the River Tyne. It takes four and a half minutes to open to allow river traffic to pass safely underneath and its spectacular lighting brings the bridge and the river alive at dusk.
The bridge was officially opened by H.M. The Queen on 7th May 2002.
Gateshead Millennium Bridge Facts:
- Featured on a first class stamp in 2000
- 36,000 people lined the banks of the River Tyne to watch the bridge tilt for the first time on 28 June 2001
- Contains enough steel to make 64 double decker buses or 16 Chieftain tanks
- Cost £22m to build
- Each opening and closing takes four and a half minutes
- Cleans up its own litter – anything dropped on the deck automatically rolls into special traps at each end of the bridge each time it opens
- Can withstand a collision from a 4,000 tonne ship travelling at 4 knots
- Has concrete foundations stretching to 30 metres, anchoring it to the river bed
- Is powered by eight electric motors – enough power to run more than eight Ford Focus cars
- Sits on 19,000 tonnes of concrete
- Stretches 126 metres across the River Tyne
- Was lowered into place by Europe's largest floating crane – Asian Hercules II
- The very top of the arch stands 50 metres above the River Tyne when in its normal state
- Weighs more than 800 tonnes
- Is adjacent to an area called Baltic Square: an open-air performance space which has been host to a number of high profile events such as the
first ever Top Of The Pops outdoor event in July 2004, Orange Evolution music festival 2005
- Has been used in numerous television, film and media projects
- The Gateshead Millennium Bridge appeared on a new pound coin from the Royal Mint in 2007, representing England