The Millennium Bridge

The Millennium bridge is a pedestrian bridge erected to connect the Tate Modern Art Gallery to the City and St Paul's Cathedral. Almost immediately after opening the bridge had to be shut because of dangerous swaying. It has now been reopened.

The bridge is about 320 metres, costs 16 million pounds to build and only takes pedestrians. London's Millennium Bridge is the first pedestrian river crossing over the Thames in central London for more than a century. It is a 325m steel bridge linking the City of London at St. Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern Gallery at Bankside.

The new Millennium Bridge which was opened by the Queen in AD2000 and spans the river between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern Gallery and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It is the first new bridge to have opened in Central London since Tower Bridge.

As everyone knows it has had a chequered start. The designer of the bridge had not allowed for what was described as "Lozenge-pattern oscillation" – a unique phenomenon caused when large numbers of people stride out across a suspended structure in a similar walking style. This immediately caused the new bridge to be christened the "Wibbly-Wobbly Bridge" by sarcastic Londoners. The Millennium Bridge was closed soon after it opened, and not reopened until 2002 after £5,000,000 had been spent on dampers to correct the oscillation.

It is now one of the most popular ways for people to cross the Thames, as it affords delightful vistas across the old City of London and St Paul’s huge Dome, floating high above the office blocks.

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