Teesquay Millennium Footbridge

Teesquay Millennium Footbridge

Teesquay Millennium Footbridge
Coordinates 54°33′44.5″N 1°18′35.2″W / 54.562361°N 1.309778°W / 54.562361; -1.309778
Carries Pedestrians
Crosses Teesdale Way,
River Tees,
Riverside Road
Locale Stockton-on-Tees, England, United Kingdom
Official name Teesquay Millennium Footbridge
Preceded by Victoria Bridge
Followed by Princess of Wales Bridge
Characteristics
Design Cable-stayed bridge
Material Steel and concrete
Width 2.7 metres (9 ft)
No. of spans 4
Piers in water 1
History
Architect Yee Associates
Designer Ove Arup
Constructed by Birse Construction
Construction end December 2000
Inaugurated 20 December 2000

Teesquay Millennium Footbridge is a footbridge crossing east-west over the River Tees, in Stockton-on-Tees in the Northeast of England. The bridge links Teesdale Business Park and the University of Durham, Queen's Campus in Thornaby-on-Tees to the Castlegate (shopping) Centre in Stockton-on-Tees High Street.[1][2][3] The bridge crosses the Teesdale Way cycle route, River Tees and the A1035 Riverside Road. Funding for the bridge was from Stockton-on-Tees Council, the European Regional Development Fund, One NorthEast and English Partnerships.[2]

Teesquay Millennium Footbridge is also referred to as the Millennium Bridge.

Design

Stockton Borough Council provided a brief for a 'design and build' competition to construct a pedestrian bridge across the River Tees.[4] The 'design and build' competition was won by a team comprising Ove Arup and Birse Construction.[4] Their entry was the only one to satisfy the local council's strictly limited budget.[4]

The bridge has a cable-stayed design[1][5] with architecture by Yee Associates[5] and designed by Ove Arup[1] whereas the identification signage on the bridge states that it was designed by the constructor, Birse Construction. It has a 40-metre (131 ft) 'A' frame pylon/mast with fanned cables[1][2][3][6] and has a total span of 153 m (502 ft).[7] The walkway is 2.7 m (9 ft) wide narrowing to 2 m (7 ft) on the extension over Riverside Road to the Castlegate Centre.[8]

Construction

The bridge was fabricated in Spain,[9] constructed on site by Birse Construction North East[1][2][5][6] and completed in December 2000[1][5] at a cost of £1.4m.[6]

Operation

The bridge was opened on 20 December 2000[1][9][10] by Dari Taylor, Member of Parliament for Stockton South, and the mayor of Stockton-on-Tees.[9] The Teesgate Millennium Footbridge was one of the few number of millennium footbridges to be actually completed in the millennium year, but unlike some high-profile millennium footbridges it was not funded by the Millennium Commission.[4]

The bridge has been criticised for both wobbling[11][12] and being too narrow to accommodate cyclists who are required to dismount and are barred from entering the Castlegate Centre in any case.

Castlegate Quay

On Castlegate Quay up-river by the western side of the bridge there is:

A rower under the Teesquay Millennium Bridge 
View along the deck towards Teesdale Business Park 
View from the steel steps on the Castlegate Quay side 
Information board on the bridge pylon 
'Replica' of HM Bark Endeavour at Castlegate Quay. 

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Teesquay Millennium Bridge". Bridges on the Tyne. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kenyon, Chris (March 2002). "A Trip up the Tees". Tees Rowing Club. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  3. 1 2 Vigur, Brian. "The "Steel River"". Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Newsletter April 01" (PDF). Institution of Civil Engineers – North East. April 2001. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Janberg, Nicolas. "Teesquay Millennium Bridge (2000)". Structurae. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 "Bridge A-Team". Construction News. 14 December 2000. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  7. ↑ Infinity Bridge Information Board – The 8 Bridges Route, June 2009, retrieved 20 September 2013 – via WikiMedia Commons
  8. ↑ "Teesside and Sedgefield". Lune Millennium Bridge. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 Smailes, Stephen (Councillor) (3 January 2001). "News, Sport, Business, Leisure from the North East and North Yorkshire – Letters". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  10. ↑ "The Bridges of Middlesbrough – Walks". The AA. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  11. ↑ "About Stockton Town Centre". Stockton Towntalk. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  12. ↑ "Milewood Healthcare – Oxbridge House". Milewood Healthcare. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
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