The Blinking Bridge - Millennium

The Millennium Bridge crossing the Tyne River in Gateshead is the first tilted bridge in the world. The movements of the structure during the tilt resemble a winking eye, resulting in the nickname "blinking bridge".

After completion, which cost £22 million, the bridge has become one of the city’s landmarks, a must-see destination for tourists. The basis of the design are two steel arches, one of which is located above the surface of the water at 50 meters and serves as a counterweight, and on the other, located horizontally, pedestrians and cyclists move. If it is necessary to pass along the river of a large vessel, both arches rotate about their axis by 40 degrees, reaching a position where both upper points align at an altitude of 25 meters above the water level. It was for this maneuver that the bridge was nicknamed the “winking eye”.