Gateshead Millennium Bridge
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead arts quarter on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne's Quayside area on the north bank. It was the first tilting bridge ever to be constructed. Opened for public use in 2001, the award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architectural practice WilkinsonEyre and structural engineering firm Gifford. The bridge is sometimes called the 'Blinking Eye Bridge' or the 'Winking Eye Bridge' due to its shape and its tilting method. The Millennium Bridge stands as the twentieth tallest structure in the city, and is shorter in stature than the neighbouring Tyne Bridge.
Above: Gateshead Millennium Bridge, looking west along the River Tyne, as viewed from the Gateshead side Below: Gateshead Millennium Bridge when tilted, as viewed from the Gateshead side
Image: Newcastle upon Tyne bridges and skyline cropped
The construction of Gateshead Millennium Bridge provided a link between wider regeneration projects in Newcastle (left) and Gateshead (right).
Close-up of the pedestrian and cycle arch while the bridge is tilting.
The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length is 73 miles (118 km). It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.
River Tyne Gateshead Quayside
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists and the Tyne Bridge for vehicles in the background in Newcastle upon Tyne
Confluence of North (right) and South Tyne (left) near Warden
A stone marker shows the source of the River North Tyne
