Kingsgate Bridge
| Kingsgate Bridge | |
| County Durham | |
|---|---|
 Kingsgate bridge in front of Dunelm House | |
| Location | |
| Carrying: | Pedestrians |
| Crossing: | River Wear |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ275421 |
| Location: | 54°46’23"N, 1°34’21"W |
| Structure | |
| Material: | Reinforced concrete |
| History | |
| Built 1963 | |
| Architect: | Ove Arup |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | University of Durham |
Kingsgate Bridge is a reinforced concrete construction footbridge across the River Wear, in Durham, in County Durham. It is an ugly, brutalist structure, but a Grade I listed structure.[1] The bridge was personally designed in 1963 by Ove Arup,[1] the last structure he ever designed.[2]
This bridge connects Bow Lane on the peninsula in the centre of Durham to Dunelm House on New Elvet, 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 had spent many hours working on every detail of the plans.[3]
The construction of the Kingsgate Bridge was unusual; the two halves were each built parallel to the river, then rotated through 90° to make the crossing.[4] The meeting point of the two halves is marked by a simple bronze expansion joint using a linear gear bearing.[5][6]
In 1965, the bridge was the winner of the Civic Trust Award.[7] In 1993, it won the Certificate of Outstanding Performance (Mature Structures Category) of the Concrete Society.[8]
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.[9][10] 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.[11]
In 2005, the bridge was adopted as a footpath by the council, making them responsible for its maintenance, although the University of Durham remain the owners.[12][13]
During a university rag week in the late 1960s students suspended a car beneath the bridge.[14]
Pictures
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Kingsgate Bridge) |
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Heritage List 1119766: Kingsgate Bridge (Grade I listing)
- ↑ Steele, Matthew (12 November 2020). "Concrete jungle: The brutalist buildings of northern England – in pictures". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/nov/12/concrete-jungle-the-brutalist-buildings-of-northern-england-in-pictures.
- ↑ "Plaque Commemorates Birth Place of Sir Ove Arup - Engineer and Philosopher". Arup. 15 June 2000. http://www.arup.com/newsitem.cfm?pageid=810.
- ↑ Rennsion, Robert William; Barbey, M.F. (1996). Civil engineering heritage. Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0-7277-2518-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv2BrOMo8cIC.
- ↑ "Kingsgate bridge". Arup. http://arup.com/Projects/Kingsgate_footbridge.aspx.
- ↑ "Durham Bridges: 1. Kingsgate Bridge". 28 November 2013. http://happypontist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/durham-bridges-1-kingsgate-bridge.html.
- ↑ "Sir Ove Arup and Durham". www.durhamcity.org. http://www.durhamcity.org/bulletin49/arup.html.
- ↑ "Kingsgate Bridge: Work Suspended". www.durham21.co.uk. http://www.durham21.co.uk/2005/10/kingsgate-bridge-work-suspended/.
- ↑ "World-renowned engineer Sir Ove Arup honoured with unveiling of new bust". Durham University. 28 September 2011. http://www.dur.ac.uk/news/allnews/?itemno=12860.
- ↑ NPG 5968; Sir Ove Arup
- ↑ Statue thieves Arup to no good, The Northern Echo, 6 November 2006
- ↑ "Sixty years of Kingsgate Bridge". 19 December 2023. https://www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/2023/12/kingsgate-bridge/.
- ↑ William Milne; Elliot Burrin (6 December 2024). "Students launch ‘Grit Kingsgate Bridge’ campaign". Palatinate. https://www.palatinate.org.uk/students-launch-grit-kingsgate-bridge-campaign/.
- ↑ "Image of car suspended beneath the bridge". http://compsoc.dur.ac.uk/~djw/stuff/kingsgate.jpg.
| Bridges and crossings on the River Wear | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baths Bridge | New Elvet Bridge | Elvet Bridge | Kingsgate Bridge | Prebends Bridge | Framwellgate Bridge | Milburngate Bridge |