Millennium Bridge (london) Traditional Cache

The London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing the River Thames in London between the existing Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, linking Bankside with the City. It was the first new bridge across the Thames in London since Tower Bridge in 1894 and it is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the Corporation of London.

The south end of the bridge is near Globe Theatre, the Bankside Gallery and Tate Modern, the north end next to the City of London School below St Paul's Cathedral. The bridge alignment is such that a clear view of St Paul's south facade is presented from across the river, framed by the bridge supports, thus providing one of London's most photogenic views of the cathedral.

History of the Bridge

Construction began in late 1998. The bridge was completed at a cost of £18.2m and opened on June 10, 2000 the 90,000 users on the bridge in the first day caused an initial small wobble, this wobble was encouraged (or even obliged) the users to walk in synchronisation with the sway, increasing the effect even when the bridge was comparatively lightly loaded at the beginning of the day. This swaying motion earned it the nickname the Wobbly Bridge. Attempts were made to limit the number of people crossing the bridge: this led to long queues, but dampened neither public enthusiasm for what was something of a white-knuckle ride, nor the vibrations themselves. The closure of the bridge only three days after opening attracted public criticism.

After extensive analysis, the problem was fixed by the retrofitting of 37 energy dissipating dampers to control horizontal movement and 52 inertial dampers to control vertical movement. This took from May 2001 to January 2002 and cost £5m. After a period of testing the bridge was successfully re-opened on February 22, 2002.