Member Article

Birthday celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Durham’s Kingsgate Bridge

The engineering consultants, Arup, who built an iconic North East bridge joined leading industry figures to mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark structure.

Work on the Kingsgate Bridge was completed in 1963, and the structure was considered by internationally acclaimed engineer, Sir Ove Arup, to be his finest work.

Senior figures from Arup, the engineering consultancy firm founded by Sir Ove, met with Professor David Toll, Chair of ICE North East, and other members of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) North East and Durham University.

Following a small ceremony at the bridge, guests gathered to celebrate the anniversary with a special 50th birthday cake. Professor Toll, is Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences at Durham University. Kingsgate Bridge was built for the university and provides a link between the Durham University colleges and departments in the city centre and Dunelm House, the Students’ Union, also designed by Sir Ove Arup.

Built for only £35,000, Ove Arup was able to show that if the structure could be made efficient, rather than the original plans for a low-level bridge, this sum of money could pay for a 107m long high-level bridge. This he achieved, resulting in the elegant structure that today graces the Durham riverbanks. A unique feature of the footbridge was that it was constructed in two halves on either side of the river, avoiding working over the water. The two parts were then rotated out from each bank to join in the centre.

Professor Toll said: “At Durham University, we are proud to be associated with Kingsgate Bridge, which is both elegant and cleverly designed. The bridge enhances the beauty of the city and is a very important part of the civil engineering heritage of Durham. Fifty years on, the bridge still looks modern, which is tribute to Sir Ove Arup’s philosophy of ‘total design’ – the seamless integration of engineering and architecture”

Jason Boddy, Associate at Arup said “Kingsgate Bridge is a wonderful piece of engineering design combining efficiency, elegance, and functionality with the important consideration of safe construction. As a concrete structure of the 1960s it has certainly withstood the test of time and is a stunning complement to Durham’s architecture.”

The bridge anniversary is being used to highlight the ICE’s ‘This is Civil Engineering’ campaign which is designed to demonstrate examples of civil engineering to the general public through the display of banners at sites both during construction and immediately following completion of works.

The banners feature a QR code linked to a dedicated page on the ICE website (http://www.ice.org.uk/this) that explains what civil engineering is and what civil engineers do. The page also contains links to more detailed civil engineering information and to the rest of the ICE website for those interested in becoming civil engineers.

Banners will be appearing across the region in the coming months.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Penny Marshall .