UPM SKYPE EXCHANGE 4

In December we run a Skype exchange with students at Madrid Technical University (UPM); here are the practical guides that we created for students in English & Spanish

London Engineering Works: THE WOBBLY BRIDGE

There is a great variety of monuments and other popular places to visit in London. Who doesn’t know the most emblematic monuments of London, such as Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the British Museum or the Tower of London?

However, one of the most innovative engineering structures is actually unknown for most non-British people: the Millennium Bridge, officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge. This suspension bridge is made of steel and it crosses the River Thames, linking Bankside with the city. The bridge was designed and built due to the beginning of the new millennium, being inaugurated in 2000. That’s the reason of its name.

The design of the bridge was the subject of a competition whose winners were Arup, Foster and Partners and Sir Anthony Caro. The bridge's suspension design had the supporting cables below the deck level in order to improve the view and respect the height restrictions. Its eight suspension cables allow the bridge to support a working load of five thousand people at one time. Those two characteristics are essential for its double function: tourism and transport.

At first, the Millennium Bridge was very criticized because it was temporally closed due to a problem with vibrations. Despite the fact that this problem was rapidly solved, the affectionate "wobbly bridge" epithet remains in common usage amongst Londoners.

Pedro Fernández Gaspar