Millennium Bridge, London, England

Saint Paul's Cathedral

Millennium Bridge

The midi you are listening to is a traditional tune called, 'Blow the Wind Southerly'.

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You are looking at St. Paul's Cathedral and the northern end of the millenium bridge.

The Millennium Bridge, designed by Sir Norman Foster as a ‘blade of light’ across the dark waters, was the first pedestrian bridge to be built over the Thames for over 100 years. It was built to mark the year 2001 celebrations and was opened on 10 June 2001. Two days later, this Ł18 million, 320 metre, architectural dream became an engineer's nightmare when it was found that it swayed so much that the pedestrians suffered from motion sickness. It was closed again on 12 June 2001 and investigations began to discover and cure the swaying.

Initially it was thought that the wind was responsible for the problem but, this was quickly ruled out on the next windy day. Eventually it was discovered that the synchronised footfall of pedestrians caused the bridge to sway. Engineers had designed it to cope with running pedestrians and marching pedestrians but, normal, 'walking', had not been expected to cause a problem.

Work to cure the problem is expected to cost around Ł5 million and take at least six months to complete. Engineers have come up with a "damping solution" similar to the fitting of shock absorbers under the deck of the bridge. The bridge should reopen in the summer of 2001. If you want to walk across it, expect to pay a toll of Ł1.00.</CENTER>

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