Kingsgate Bridge is a striking, modern

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

construction

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at ...

across the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through ...

, in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. It was personally designed in 1963 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, an ...

, the last structure he ever designed. Kingsgate Bridge connects Bow Lane on the historic

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

in the centre of Durham to

Dunelm House Dunelm House is a Grade II listed university building in Durham, England, built in 1966 in the brutalist style. It belongs to Durham University and houses Durham Students' Union. Its listing entry cites, among other factors, that it is "a sign ...

on New Elvet (to which building Arup's studio also contributed), and opened in 1966. Kingsgate Bridge is thought to have been one of Arup's favourite designs of all, he having spent many hours working on every detail of the plans. Its construction was unusual. The two halves were each built parallel to the river, then rotated through 90° to make the crossing. The meeting point of the two halves is marked by a simple bronze expansion joint using a linear

gear bearing A gear bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing similar to an epicyclic gear. Gear bearings consist of a number of smaller 'satellite' gears which revolve around the center of the bearing along a track on the outsides of the internal and satel ...

. In 1965, the bridge was the winner of the

Civic Trust Award The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...

. In 1993, it won Certificate of Outstanding Performance (Mature Structures Category) of

the Concrete Society The Concrete Society is a UK based non-profit company that was founded in 1966 in response to the increasing need for a single organisation embracing all those interested in concrete. On its formal inauguration, on 13 October 1966, the Society too ...

. A bust of Arup, cast in resin, was installed on the side of Dunelm House, the students' union building adjacent to the bridge, in September 2011. The sculpture is a copy of a 1987 bust by Diana Brandenburger, held by the National Portrait Gallery. It is a replacement for a previous copy of the same bust, in bronze, which was unveiled by Karin Perry, Arup's daughter, on 16 April 2003, the 108th anniversary of Arup's birth, but which was stolen from its

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

during the summer of 2006. In February 1998, the Durham Students' Union president, Tom Joyce, fell through the bridge, but caught himself and was uninjured. This event was described in the Palatinate as ‘an Indiana Jones style adventure’ with Mr Joyce himself being quoted with the immortal words ‘there was no time to fear’. During a university

RAG Week Rags are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Some are run as student societies whilst others sit with campaigns within their student unions. Most universities in the UK and Irela ...

in the late 1960s students suspended a car beneath the bridge.

Gallery

References

{{River item box , River =

, upstream =

Elvet Bridge Elvet Bridge is a medieval masonry arch bridge across the River Wear in the city of Durham, in County Durham, England. It links the peninsula in central Durham and the Elvet area of the city, and is a Grade I listed building. Building Buildi ...

, downstream =

Prebends Bridge Prebends Bridge, along with Framwellgate and Elvet bridges, is one of three stone-arch bridges in the centre of Durham, England, that cross the River Wear. History Prebends Bridge was designed by George Nicholson and built from 1772 to 17 ...

, type = bridge , thisis = , upsub = , downsub = , location = Bridges across the River Wear Bridges in County Durham Bridges completed in 1966 Ove Arup buildings and structures Grade I listed bridges Durham, Kingsgate Buildings and structures in Durham, England Pedestrian bridges in England Recipients of Civic Trust Awards 1966 establishments in England