HADRIAN’S MILLENNIUM BRIDGE, CARLISLE, UK
This design, involving a unique cranked stress ribbon bridge with a total length of 160 meters, and the main river span of 76 meters, won the first prize in a 1999 two stage limited competition. Our ambition was to design a contemporary, forward looking bridge, which would merit a complement similar to that uttered by Jean Jacques Rousseau when he first saw the Roman Pont du Gard : ‘Simple and noble construction’. The beautiful location of this pedestrian/bicycle bridge was at the confluence of two rivers with one bank significantly higher than the other. A stress ribbon seemed the most appropriate solution both in terms of site appropriateness physically as well as metaphorically. The bridge was to be placed on the line of Hadrian’s defensive walls - a World Heritage Site. The original Hadrian’s wall and bridges were built in TIMES OF COMPRESSION, our Carlisle bridge proposal reflects the fact that we are now living in TIMES OF TENSION... The project developed with Atelier One and Prof. Jiri Strasky, with the Millennium Commission funding, was ready to go on site when it was aborted by Tories who won the local elections.
- Client :
- Carlisle City Council
- Budget ( tender ) :
- £1.65 million
