Infinity bridge - wikipedia Infinity bridge Infinity Bridge Infinity Bridge from the Tees Barrage 54 ° 33 ′ 53.26 '' N 1 ° 17 ′ 57.09 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 54.5647944 ° N 1.2991917 ° W ﻿ / 54.5647944 ; - 1.2991917 Carries Pedestrians and cyclists Crosses River Tees, Teesdale Way Locale Stockton - on - Tees, England, United Kingdom Official name Infinity Bridge Owner Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council Preceded by Princess of Wales Bridge Followed by Tees Barrage Characteristics Design Asymmetric double tied - arch and suspended deck Material Weathering steel, stainless steel and reinforced concrete Total length 240 metres ( 787 ft ) Width 5 metres ( 16 ft ) Height 40 metres ( 131 ft ) Longest span 120 metres ( 394 ft ) No. of spans 2 river spans and 8 minor spans on approaches Piers in water Clearance below 8 metres ( 26 ft ) Design life 120 years History Contracted lead designer Expedition Engineering Successful competition design Expedition Engineering and Spence Associates Constructed by Balfour Beatty Fabrication by Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company Construction start June 2007 Construction end December 2008 Construction cost £ 15m Inaugurated 14 May 2009 Opened 16 May 2009 Statistics Daily traffic 4,000 people / day anticipated The Infinity Bridge is a public pedestrian and cycle footbridge across the River Tees in the borough of Stockton - on - Tees in the north - east of England. The bridge is situated one kilometre downriver of Stockton town centre, between the Princess of Wales Bridge and the Tees Barrage and it links the Teesdale Business Park and the University of Durham 's Queen 's Campus in Thornaby - on - Tees on the south bank of the Tees with the Tees Valley Regeneration 's £ 320 million North Shore development on the north bank. Built at a cost of £ 15 million with funding from Stockton Borough Council, English Partnerships and its successor body the Homes and Communities Agency, One NorthEast, and the European Regional Development Fund the bridge is a major part of the North Shore Redevelopment Project undertaken by Tees Valley Regeneration. The bridge had the project title North Shore Footbridge before being given its official name Infinity Bridge, chosen by a panel made from the funding bodies, using names suggested by the public. The name derives from the infinity symbol formed by the bridge and its reflection. Contents 1 Design 1.1 Description 1.2 Illumination 2 Construction 3 Operation 4 Awards 5 Photo gallery 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Design Initial investigations for the footbridge were done by the White Young Green Group who with English Partnerships produced a brief for an international architectural design competition organised with RIBA Competitions and launched in April 2003. The brief was for a `` prestigious '' and `` iconic '' `` landmark '' footbridge at North Shore Stockton, to cross the River Tees which is 125 m wide at that point. There were more than 200 entries to the RIBA Competition but this was slimmed down to a shortlist of five. The successful competition design was by Expedition Engineering and Spence Associates. The subsequent design was led by Expedition Engineering assisted by Arup Materials, Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, Black and Veatch, Bridon, Cambridge University, Cleveland Bridge UK, Dorman Long Technology, Flint & Neill, Formfab, GCG, GERB, Imperial College, RWDI, Spence Associates, Speirs & Major, Stainton, and William Cook while White Young Green were project managers. English Partnerships appointed Flint & Neill Limited to carry out a category III independent check of the bridge design including loading, wind tunnel testing, and investigation of failure modes, a number of aspects of which fall outside current standards. The bridge has a 120 - year design life. Description The bridge is a dual, tied arch bridge or bowstring bridge. It has a pair of continuous, differently - sized structural steel arches with suspended precast concrete decking and one asymmetrically placed river pier. The tapering arches with a trapezoidal box section are fabricated from weathering steel plate. The arches both bifurcate within the spans to form a double rib over the river pier. A reflex piece between the two arches holds them together making the two arches one continuous curve. No other bridge is known to have quite the same design. The offset river pier is to accommodate water sports and leisure craft to one side. The river pier is supported by an 11.5 m square by 2.5 m thick pile cap on sixteen 1 m diameter hollow steel pipe piles. On the pile cap beneath the water line are four 3 m cylindrical concrete legs onto which are bolted and welded the four inclined grey steel legs visible above water. Riprap covers the river bed around the river pier for scour protection against the large flows when the Tees Barrage downstream discharges. Each of the two concrete riverside piers are supported on four 500 mm hollow steel piles and a pile cap. The bridge as initially proposed was to have been some 272 m long. It was originally designed with a northern approach 38 m long and a southern approach of 54 m however the design of the north side of the bridge was later simplified and the bridge 's northern approach shortened. The design of the southern approach is largely unaltered and has a staircase connecting it directly to the river frontage. The bridge deck is 5 m wide and 4 m between its custom - made handrails. The main arch of the bridge is 120 m long, weighing 300 tonnes, 32 m tall with its top 40 m above the Tees and the short arch is 60 m long and 16 m tall. The hangers ( droppers ) are spaced 7.5 m apart and are made from 30 mm diameter high strength locked coil steel cable. Single tuned mass damper fitted to the underside of the concrete decking of the smaller arch of the bridge. Four exposed, high strength post tensioned locked coil steel tie cables run alongside the deck and tie the bases of the arches together, pre-stressing the concrete deck sections. The tie cables are 90 mm diameter on the large arch and 65 mm on the smaller. The aggregate concrete deck sections are 7.5 m long and down to 125 mm thick in places, making it one of the thinnest bridge walking surfaces. The handrails and parapet are stainless steel while the balustrade is made from stainless steel wire. To ensure any bridge oscillation is controlled the deck is fitted to the underside with seven tuned mass dampers -- one on the short arch, and six on the larger weighing 5 tonnes in all. The mass dampers control horizontal as well as vertical oscillations -- a feature only required on very slender bridges. There is provision for the addition of further dampers when the issue of maintenance arises. The clearance ( heading ) below the decking on the navigable part of the river is 8 m. Illumination A special feature is made of the way the bridge is lit at night. This lighting scheme was designed by Speirs and Major Associates who also designed the lighting for the Burj Al - Arab. At night the bridge handrail and footway are lit with custom - made blue - and - white LED lighting built into the handrail that changes colour as pedestrians cross the bridge ; sensors trigger a change from blue to white, leaving a ' comet 's trail ' in the person 's wake. Attached to the steel cable ties are white metal - halide up - lighters to illuminate the white painted bridge arches, and blue LED down - lighters to illuminate the water and ground surfaces immediately below the deck. At night from certain viewing angles when the river surface is flat calm, the twin arches together with their reflection in the river appear as an infinity symbol ∞, and it is this effect that inspired its name. Uplighters on the southern riverside pier illuminating the southern end of the arch White metal halide up - lighters, and blue LED down - lighters attached to two steel tie cables running along either side of the bridge walkway Handrail and integral custom - made walkway lighting The bridge illuminated after sunset Construction South bank of North Shore Footbridge during construction The bridge was constructed in 18 months between June 2007 and December 2008 by site constructor Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering and steel fabricator Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company with White Young Green managing the whole project. At the start of construction, a temporary jetty was built on the south bank to enable the building of a cofferdam for the safe construction of the central pier. In April 2008, the supporting legs were added to the central pier. Steel falsework was constructed in the cofferdam by Dorman Long to support the ends of both incomplete arches as they cantilevered over the river during construction. The first steel arch, made from four pieces of fabricated steel welded together, was put in place in June 2008 and was later used to stabilise the cantilevering lower portions of the main arch using a strand - jack and tie cable between the top of the small arch and the large arch and then to reduce sway stress during the progressive construction of the large arch. The final section of the main arch came in four pieces which were welded together on site and on 5 September 2008 all 170 tonnes of it was lifted into place by a 1,500 - tonne mobile crane, the largest in the country. The crane, a Gottwald AK680 owned by Sarens UK, is based in nearby Middlesbrough. The crane is 80 metres ( 262 ft ) high with a maximum of 1200 tonnes of superlift, requires 45 transport wagons to move it, and takes three days to set up using a 100 - tonne crane. The concrete deck panels were cast on site using three steel moulds in temporary sheds in a construction compound on the north bank of the river. Using a short temporary jetty on the north bank the deck, panels were floated out on a small barge and jacked into position, working progressively away from the river pier. The concrete deck sections are held together by steel welds and adhesive. The footbridge was completed on time and to budget in December 2008 with 530 workers and uses in total some 450 tonnes of Corus steel, 1.5 km of locked coil steel cable, 780 lights and 5,472 bolts, and weighs 1040 tons. Almost all labour, materials and components were sourced regionally. Operation The bridge was officially opened on 14 May 2009 with celebrations that included a sound, light and animation show, parkour freerunners who climbed the bridge arches with flares, and a specially composed music track and synchronised pyrotechnics from the bridge itself with big screens for the estimated audience of 20,000 spectators along the banks. The bridge was opened to the public two days later. Foot traffic is anticipated to rise to some four thousand people a day as the North Shore site develops. Awards The bridge won the Institution of Structural Engineers ' Supreme Award for Structural Excellence 2009, the premier structural engineering award in the UK. It also won in its own category of Pedestrian Bridges. The other awards the bridge has won include the Structural Steel Design Award 2010, the Concrete Society Civil Engineering Award 2009, the ICE Robert Stephenson Award 2009, the North East Constructing Excellence Awards ' Project of the Year ', and the Green Apple Award for the environment. Photo gallery The smaller south arch The larger north arch Central pier and large arch The central pier The southern riverside concrete pier with reaction plate viewed from the north side The south riverside pier and concrete decking The seven south piers and approaches The north riverside pier and abutment An angled dropper, deck support and bowstring cables Tie cable tensioning clamps on the north bank Infinity Bridge information board Infinity Bridge from the River Tees Watersports Centre See also Nearby River Tees Teesdale Way Tees Valley. Other regional bridge developments New Wear Bridge. References ^ Jump up to : `` Infinity footbridge takes shape ''. Building Design -- The Architects ' Website. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` To Infinity and Beyond : Teesside Stockton Footbridge '' ( PDF ). wyg.com. White Young Green. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : Race, Steve ( 18 February 2008 ). `` The latest addition to the River Tees skyline is taking shape ''. Gazette Live. Evening Gazette. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Case Study : Teesside Stockton Footbridge ''. wyg.com. White Young Green group. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` An infinitely fitting name ''. onenortheast.co.uk. One North East. 11 September 2008. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009. Jump up ^ Robinson, Mike ( 1 September 2008 ). `` Council Meeting -- Stockton and Borough Council ''. stockton.gov.uk. Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council. Retrieved 14 March 2009. Jump up ^ `` The Footbridge at North Shore ''. northshorefootbridge.com. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering and Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Firm looks to Infinity and beyond ''. nebusiness.co.uk. Evening Gazette. 24 November 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Expedition Engineering ''. expedition-engineering.com. Expedition Engineering. Retrieved 14 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : Maskell, Daniel ( 2009 ). `` A Critical Analysis of North Shore Footbridge, Stockton - on - Tees, UK '' ( PDF ). Proceedings of Bridge Engineering 2 Conference 2009. bath.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Lift off for North Shore ''. Building Design News. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Overview of the Scheme ''. The Footbridge at North Shore. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` The Infinity Footbridge ''. The Institution of Structural Engineers. Retrieved 16 October 2009. Jump up ^ `` Infinity Bridge, Stockton - on - Tees ''. Bridges on the Tyne. Retrieved 17 January 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` North Shore Footbridge ''. Cleveland. Retrieved 11 December 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Infinity Bridge, UK '' ( PDF ). flintneill.com. Flint & Neill. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2009. Jump up ^ Smith, Colin ( 9 October 2009 ). `` Iconic bridge wins award with a little help from Imperial students ''. imperial.ac.uk. Imperial College. Retrieved 11 December 2009. Jump up ^ `` Iconic Bridge Wins Double Accolade ''. wyg.com. WYG Group. 20 May 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Northshore footbridge, UK ''. dormanlongtechnology.com. Dorman Long Technology. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` About Cleveland Bridge ''. Cleveland Process Designs Limited. Retrieved 19 January 2010. ^ Jump up to : DLT Consulting. `` Infinity footbridge, UK ''. Dorman Long Technology. Retrieved 12 February 2010. ^ Jump up to : Rowson, Jessica ( 20 May 2008 ). `` Clever step over ''. New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 7 September 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Balfour Beatty Update -- September 2007 ''. northshorefootbridge.com. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering and Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` The Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council North Shore Development ( North Shore Footbridge ) Scheme 2006 '' ( PDF ). Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Statutory Instruments 2006 No. 2503 '' ( PDF ). opsi.gov.uk. Office of Public Service Information. 2006. Retrieved 18 March 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` North Shore Footbridge ''. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 September 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` The Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council North Shore Development ( North Shore Footbridge ) Scheme 2006 Confirmation Instrument 2006 ''. opsi.gov.uk. Office of Public Sector Information. 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Spectacular Infinity Bridge Is Regeneration Catalyst For Tees Valley ''. realwire.com. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` PM 's Award Finalists 2009 ''. betterpublicbuilding.org.uk. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009. Jump up ^ `` No bridge too far for Fabric8 ''. S3i Stainless Steel Solutions. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Wire balustrade installed on iconic footbridge in Stockton - on - Tees ''. finditinurbanliving.co.uk. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2010. ^ Jump up to : Glancy, Jonathan ( 16 December 2009 ). `` Building with Light ''. metropolismag.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Balfour Beatty Update -- January 2008 ''. northshorefotbridge.com. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering and Stockton - on - Tees Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2009. Jump up ^ `` Infinity bridge, UK ''. dormanlong.com. Dorman Long Technology. Retrieved 19 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` UK 's biggest crane is huge lift for bridge ''. Gazette Live. Evening Gazette. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2010. Jump up ^ McLauchlan, Karen ( 24 April 2009 ). `` Infinity Festival ''. Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Infinity Bridge Opening Celebrations ''. Visit England. Retrieved 13 March 2009. ; `` Infinity Bridge Opening Event, Stockton ''. News Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Awards for Infinity Bridge ''. teesvalleyregeneration.co.uk. Tees Valley Regeneration. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Infinity bridge scoops Structural Awards ''. New Civil Engineer. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009. Jump up ^ `` Corus Structural Steel Design Award 2010 ''. corusconstruction.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010. Jump up ^ `` Civil Engineering Category Winner ''. The Concrete Society. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2010. Jump up ^ `` Green Apple Awards 2009 for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage ''. The Green Organisation. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Infinity Bridge. Infinity Bridge at Structurae Infinity Bridge on Bridges on the Tyne website Bridge design analysis, review and critique : A Critical Analysis of North Shore Footbridge Construction video : BBC Construction animation : Oasys Images : Dorman Long Technology, Flickr. Bridge model : Imperial College. Links to related articles Places adjacent to Infinity Bridge Portrack Princess of Wales Bridge, Stockton - on - Tees town centre Infinity Bridge over the River Tees Tees Barrage, Tees Barrage International White Water Course Teesdale Business Park Teesdale Business Park, Thornaby railway station Crossings of the River Tees Upstream Princess of Wales Bridge ( Diana Bridge ) Infinity Bridge Downstream Tees Barrage The borough of Stockton - on - Tees Major Settlements Billingham Eaglescliffe Ingleby Barwick Stockton Thornaby Yarm Villages Aislaby Carlton Cowpen Bewley Egglescliffe Elton Grindon Hartburn High Leven Hilton Longnewton Maltby Norton Redmarshall Stillington Thorpe Thewles Urlay Nook Whinney Hill Whitton Wolviston Culture, leisure and tourism Bassleton Wood and The Holmes Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve Portrack Meadows Wildlife Reserve Preston Park Ropner Park Stockton International Riverside Festival Stockton Weekender Tees Barrage International White Water Course Tees Valley Giants Teesside Park Trinity Green Quarry Wood Waterways Rivers Tees Leven Crossings Jubilee Bridge Surtees Bridge Tees Bridge Victoria Bridge Teesquay Millennium Footbridge Princess of Wales Bridge Infinity Bridge Tees Barrage Tees Viaduct Tees Newport Bridge Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge Transport Air Durham Tees Valley Airport Rail Stations Allens West railway station Billingham railway station Eaglescliffe railway station Thornaby railway station Stockton railway station Tees Valley Metro ( proposed ) Yarm railway station Lines Durham Coast Line Tees Valley Line Road A19 A66 A174 Related articles Business Teesdale Business Park Education Schools Queen 's Campus Industry Teesside EfW plant Governance Stockton North ( constituency ) Stockton South ( constituency ) Historic Bowesfield Works Head Wrightson Stockton and Darlington Railway Stockton Racecourse Tees Marshalling Yard Teesside Development Corporation Tees Valley Regeneration Sport Portrack Lane Tees Barrage International White Water Course Prisons Holme House Kirklevington Grange IStructE Supreme Award laureates Year Winning organisation Winning structure 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Gifford Dewhurst Macfarlane & Partners / Goldreich Engineering PC Not Awarded Dar Al - Handasah Consultants Buro Happold & engineers Haskins Robinson Waters Arup Expedition Engineering Arup Expedition Engineering Flint & Neill and Sinclair Knight Merz Jiangsu Provincial Comms Planning and Design Institute & AECOM Eckersley O'Callaghan Arup Fast + Epp Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Gateshead, England David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, United States Not Awarded Sungai Prai Bridge, Perai, Malaysia Savill Building, Surrey, England Heathrow Terminal 5, London, England Infinity Footbridge, Stockton - on - Tees, England Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong, China London Velodrome, London, England West Gate Bridge strengthening, Melbourne, Australia Taizhou Bridge, Taizhou, China Glass Lantern, Apple Store, Zorlu Center, Istanbul, Turkey Singapore Sports Hub, Singapore Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, Surrey, British Columbia Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Infinity_Bridge&oldid=826989765 '' Categories : Crossings of the River Tees Bridges completed in 2008 Pedestrian bridges in England Tied arch bridges Bridges in County Durham Bridges in North Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Stockton - on - Tees Places in the Tees Valley Arch bridges in the United Kingdom Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2016 EngvarB from September 2013 Use dmy dates from September 2013 Structurae ID not in Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 22 February 2018, at 03 : 25. 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Question: what type of bridge is the infinity bridge
Answer: a dual, tied arch bridge or bowstring bridge