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The Millennium Bridge – also known as the ‘Wobbly Bridge’ – across the River Thames will shut for three weeks for urgent maintenance work, its owners have announced.
The £18.2million pedestrian structure in London which links Tate Modern with St Paul’s Cathedral will be closing from 8am on Saturday, October 14. The crossing is due to reopen on Sunday, November 5 or sooner if the work is finished more quickly.
Maintenance workers need to urgently replace the degrading synthetic membrane which separates the bridge’s steel structure from its aluminium bridge deck.
Signed pedestrian diversion routes will be in place throughout the closure, with walkers directed via Southwark Bridge to the east and Blackfriars Bridge to the west.
Work will be carried out 24 hours a day by contractor FM Conway, but the owners City Bridge Foundation said power tools will not be used between 9pm and 8am to minimise noise. The structure will also receive a deep clean during the closure.
The bridge is known for featuring in the 2009 film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where an attack by the Death Eaters causes it to collapse into the Thames. It also appears in the 2014 Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy during a battle scene.
The Millennium Bridge runs from St Paul’s Cathedral to Tate Modern across the River Thames
The £18.2million pedestrian structure in London will be closed from Saturday, October 14
The Millennium Bridge became the capital’s first dedicated pedestrian bridge when it opened
The bridge is known for featuring in the 2009 film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The sequence in the Harry Potter film sees an attack by the Death Eaters cause it to collapse
The bridge also appears in the 2014 Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy during a battle scene
The iconic structure was famously dubbed the ‘Wobbly Bridge’ when it swayed under the weight of thousands of pedestrians upon first opening on June 10, 2000.
After just three days the 1,049ft (320m) long bridge had to close, and engineers spent months working out a solution before submitting a report in September 2000.
In February 2001, the Millennium Bridge Trust announced that it had raised the £5million needed to carry out the necessary modifications to the structure.
The remedial work started in May 2001 and was finished in January 2002. The bridge then reopened that February after a series of tests to ensure the problem was solved.
Miss Universe models pose on the Millennium Bridge ahead of the finals in August 2009
Boris Johnson, then Mayor, on Millennium Bridge with Erin Boag and Bruno Tonioli in 2008
Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano try to rear sheep over the Millennium Bridge in June 2006
The modifications including a series of shock-absorbing dampers – mostly under the deck – which were designed to reduce the bridge’s movement to acceptable levels.
It became the capital’s first dedicated pedestrian bridge and was the first new river crossing built in Central London for more than 100 years, since Tower Bridge in 1894.
The structure is the fifth City of London bridge under the jurisdiction of the City Bridge Foundation, along with Southwark, Tower, Blackfriars and London Bridges.
The foundation’s chairman Giles Shilson said yesterday: ‘Since it opened to mark the new Millennium, the bridge has become a much loved and very well-used fixture on the London landscape, but it is starting to show its age.
Engineers work to repair the Millennium Bridge in November 2000 after it was closed
The bridge swayed under the weight of thousands of pedestrians upon first opening in 2000
The design team (from left) of Tony Fitzpatrick, Lord Foster and Sir Anthony Caro in June 2000
‘The separation layer under the bridge deck has started to degrade, which means it’s having an adverse effect on the bridge deck and needs addressing urgently.
‘Replacing this layer is a time-consuming process, meaning we have no option but to close the bridge for three weeks and to work round the clock to get it done as quickly as possible.’
The 900-year-old organisation was set up to collect tolls from London Bridge and now maintains the five bridges, which it says is done so at no cost to the taxpayer.
It said its assets became so large in 1995 that it was allowed to donate some of its annual surplus to charity – and now gives away £30million a year on average.
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