Kingsgate Bridge
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| Kingsgate Bridge | |
|---|---|
Kingsgate Bridge seen from Durham Students Union, the Cathedral above.
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| Crosses | River Wear |
| Locale | Durham, England |
| Heritage status | Grade I listed |
| History | |
| Designer | Sir Ove Arup |
| Engineering design by | Ove Arup & Partners |
| Construction end | 1966 |
Kingsgate Bridge is a striking, modern reinforced concrete construction footbridge across the River Wear, in Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building.[1] It was personally designed in 1963 by Sir Ove Arup,[1] connecting Bow Lane on the historic peninsula in the centre of Durham to Dunelm House 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.[2]
Its construction was unusual. The two halves were each built parallel to the river, then rotated through 90° to make the crossing.[3] The meeting point of the two halves is marked by a simple bronze expansion joint.[4]
In 1965, the bridge was the winner of the Civic Trust Award.[5]
In 1993, it won Certificate of Outstanding Performance (Mature Structures Category) of the Concrete Society.[6]
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.[7][8] 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 during the summer of 2006.[9]
During a university RAG Week in the early 1960s students suspended a car beneath the bridge.[10]
In February 1998, the Durham Union Society president, Tom Joyce, fell through the bridge, but caught himself and was uninjured.[11]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kingsgate Bridge. |
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- ↑ NPG 5968; Sir Ove Arup
- ↑ Statue thieves Arup to no good, The Northern Echo, 6 November 2006
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Minutes of the meeting of DSU Council held 18 February 1998
| Next bridge upstream | River Wear | Next bridge downstream |
| Elvet Bridge | Kingsgate Bridge | Prebends Bridge |
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Bridges across the River Wear
- Bridges in County Durham
- Bridges completed in 1966
- Ove Arup buildings and structures
- Grade I listed bridges
- Grade I listed buildings in County Durham
- Buildings and structures in Durham
- Pedestrian bridges in England
- Recipients of Civic Trust Awards
