Teesquay Millennium Footbridge is a footbridge crossing east-west over the
River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
between
Stockton high street and
Thornaby
Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...
(
Teesdale Business Park
Teesdale Business Park is a major business park on the former site of Head Wrightsons' Teesdale works in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The park was redeveloped by the Teesside Development Corporation.
The area is immediately nor ...
) in Northern England. It is just east of Stockton town centre and in the town's
namesake borough.
The bridge crosses the
Teesdale Way
The Teesdale Way is a long-distance walk between the Cumbrian Pennines and the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire in England. The walk is in length; it links in with other long-distance walks such as the Pennine Way and the European walking ro ...
cycle route,
River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
and the
A1035 Riverside Road. Funding for the bridge was from Stockton-on-Tees Council, the
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...
,
One NorthEast
One North East was the regional development agency for the North East England region.
History
It was established in April 1999.
The North East received government aid for regeneration.
In June 2010, it was announced that One North East was t ...
and
English Partnerships
English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...
.
[
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.[ ]
The 'design and build' competition was won by a team comprising Ove Arup
Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation that offers engineering, design, planning, project management, and ...
and Birse Construction.[
Their entry was the only one to satisfy the local council's strictly limited budget.][
The bridge has a ]cable-stayed
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...
design with architecture by Yee Associates[
and designed by ]Ove Arup
Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation that offers engineering, design, planning, project management, and ...
[
whereas the identification signage on the bridge states that it was designed by the constructor, Birse Construction.
It has a 'A' frame pylon/mast with fanned cables]
and has a total span of .
The walkway is wide narrowing to on the extension over Riverside Road to the Castlegate Centre.
Construction
The bridge was fabricated in Spain, constructed on site by Birse Construction North East[ and completed in December 2000][ at a cost of £1.4m.][
]
Operation
The bridge was opened on 20 December 2000 by Dari Taylor
Dari Jean Taylor (''née'' Jones; born 13 December 1944) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton South between the 1997 and 2010 general elections.
Biography
Taylor was born into a staunch Lab ...
, Member of Parliament for Stockton South, and the mayor of Stockton-on-Tees.[
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
The Millennium Commission, a United Kingdom public body, was set up to celebrate the turn of the millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery to assist communities in marking the close of the second millennium and celebra ...
.[
The bridge has been criticised for both wobbling]
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
Up-river on Castlegate Quay by the western side of the bridge there is the Castlegate Quay Watersports Centre.
Photo gallery
See also
* Other Millennium Bridge Several bridges are known as the Millennium Bridge:
* in the United Kingdom
**Gateshead Millennium Bridge
** Lune Millennium Bridge, Lancaster
** Millennium Bridge, Glasgow
** Millennium Bridge, London
** Millennium Bridge (Salford Quays)
** Teesqua ...
s.
References
External links
Teesquay Millennium Footbridge
on th
Bridges on the Tyne
website
*
Tees Quay Millennium Bridge
on Geograph
Replica HM Bark Endeavour
Castlegate Quay Watersports Centre
{{navboxes , list1=
{{Geographic location , Northwest =
, North =
, Northeast = Princess of Wales Bridge
The Princess of Wales Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Diana Bridge or the Princess Diana Bridge, is a dual carriageway road bridge named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It carries Council of Europe Boulevard across the River Te ...
, West = Stockton on Tees town centre
, Centre = Teesquay Millennium Footbridge
over the ''River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
''.
, East = Teesdale Business Park
Teesdale Business Park is a major business park on the former site of Head Wrightsons' Teesdale works in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The park was redeveloped by the Teesside Development Corporation.
The area is immediately nor ...
Thornaby-on-Tees
Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...
, Southwest =
, South =
, Southeast = Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to:
Bridges
;Australia
* Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane
* Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania
* Victoria Bridge, M ...
{{Crossings navbox
, structure = Crossings
Crossings may refer to:
* ''Crossings'' (Buffy novel), a 2002 original novel based on the U.S. television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''
* Crossings (game), a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Robert Abbott
* ''Crossings'' ...
, place = River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
, bridge = Teesquay Millennium Footbridge
, upstream = Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to:
Bridges
;Australia
* Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane
* Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania
* Victoria Bridge, M ...
, downstream = Princess of Wales Bridge
The Princess of Wales Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Diana Bridge or the Princess Diana Bridge, is a dual carriageway road bridge named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It carries Council of Europe Boulevard across the River Te ...
(Princess) Diana Bridge
{{Stockton
Pedestrian bridges in England
Crossings of the River Tees
Bridges completed in 2000
Bridges in County Durham
Bridges in North Yorkshire
Buildings and structures in Stockton-on-Tees
Cable-stayed bridges in England
Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium
2000 establishments in England