See the bridge live at: www.tynebridgewebcam.com

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Blinking marvellous!

September 18, 2001

Around 30,000 people flocked to the Tyne yesterday to be among the first to cross the river using the spectacular and unique Blinking Eye Bridge.

Engineers have been working on the futuristic Gateshead Millennium Bridge since it was floated up the river into position in November 2000.

The £22m bridge is the first rotating bridge in the world and the first bridge to be built on the Tyne in 134 years.

Gateshead civic leaders were the first to cross. They walked from south to north at 1pm, greeted Newcastle City Council leader Tony Flynn and escorted him back across the bridge to Gateshead.

Gateshead Children's Choir joined children from St Lawrence's school in Byker to sing Meet in the Middle then the music of Kathryn Tickell and Andy Shepherd, Tribute to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, accompanied the raising of the bridge.

Then, at 2pm, the bridge was finally opened to members of the public. The first 500 received commemorative medals to mark the historic event.

The pedestrian and cyclists' bridge has the same 25-metre clearance as the Tyne Bridge. Its unique structure allows it to rotate in an 'eye blinking' movement to allow boats to pass underneath. It is thought it will open at least 200 times a year.

The bridge links Newcastle Quayside with the new arts and leisure developments on Gateshead Quays. Gateshead is jointly bidding with Newcastle to become European Capital of Culture 2008.

BBC Tyne Online has exclusive new video of the dramatic lighting scheme for the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Click here to view it.

See the bridge live at: www.tynebridgewebcam.com

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Blinking eye beer

August 23, 2001

The official opening of the Blinking Eye Millennium bridge at Gateshead next month will be celebrated with an ale brewed especially for the occasion. Fermentation of the beer began at the Mordue Brewery in North Shields yesterday. The beer will be available when the bridge finally opens to the public on Monday, September 17.

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Blinking Eye fully opened

June 28, 2001

The spectacular Millennium Bridge across the River Tyne has opened fully for the first time.

The unique tilting mechanism of the bridge, the only one of its kind in the world, was finally put into action today. A flotilla of yachts and leisure cruisers passed underneath the sweeping steel arch as crowds of onlookers lined both river banks.

It took four minutes for the hydraulic rams and motors to rotate the bridge, known around the world as the Blinking Eye, to the point where it was 164ft above the water - the same height as the deck of the Tyne Bridge.

Two of the tallest yachts on the Tyne glided through, followed by the leisure cruisers Island Scene and Catherine.

Over the next few months the bridge will lift occasionally as testing continues but it will not be fully operational until September.

Recently, the bridge has been dubbed locally as The Springboard because of the number of people diving off it.

Gateshead Council has put up a 10ft fence around the entrances to the bridge and Northumbria Police are stepping up patrols.

See the bridge at: www.tynebridgewebcam.com

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Man leaps from Millennium Bridge

June 19, 2001

A man had to be rescued from the Tyne last week after he leapt into the river from the Millennium Bridge. The Coastguard, Northumbria Police Marine Unit and the force helicopter were all mobilised after the unnamed man leapt into the icy cold waters at around 8.30pm. He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead where he is being treated for hypothermia.

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Get an eyeful!

May 24, 2001

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge over the Tyne has been called the blinking eye - and yesterday we finally began to see why!

Engineers are currently carrying out a series of tests on the hydraulic systems of the spectacular bridge and yesterday pushed them to the furthest point yet, opening the bridge to exactly 80pc of its maximum. Electric motors and hydraulic rams lift and rotate the 850-tonne bridge so that ships can pass underneath. It is the only bridge of its kind in the world and is set to become as famous a North-East landmark as the Tyne Bridge itself.

It will be another fortnight before the £22m cycle and pedestrian bridge is opened to its full extent for the first time. It is due to be opened to the public in September.

See what's going on there right now via the bridge webcam at www.tynebridgewebcam.com

For everything you need to know about the bridge visit:

www.gateshead.gov.uk/bridge/bridged.htm

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High wire act to fix new bridge

January 29, 2001

Workers were called in to carry out repairs on the Millennium Bridge over the Tyne at the weekend - just 66 days after it was put in place.

Cables on the Blinking Eye Bridge had been damaged when bridge supports were moved and workers had to perform a nerve-jangling high wire act to make them safe.

The 10,000-tonne crane, Asian Hercules II, that carried the bridge into its resting place in November is still on the river. It should have returned to Rotterdam immediately after its mission but has been forced to stay on the river because of bad weather. It is hoped the new bridge will be in full working order by April.

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Magnificent new landmark

November 26, 2000

The Tyne has a magnificent new bridge - the first of its kind in the world.

Gateshead's £22m Millennium Bridge has finally been lowered into place and is already attracting thousands of sightseers to the Quaysides every day even though it will not open until next year.

The bridge links the new arts centre, based in the Baltic Flour Mill on Gateshead Quays, with Newcastle Quayside and is the only purpose-built bridge across the river for cyclists and pedestrians.

The world's first rotating bridge made a two-hour journey by giant crane up the River Tyne from the Amec yard at Wallsend earlier this week.

The 850-tonne Asian Hercules, one of the world's biggest floating cranes, started its long, slow journey back to Holland yesterday, leaving behind a clear view of the bridge known as the Blinking Eye.

And the eyes of the world have been focused on the operation via the Internet. Viewers from as far away as Japan and the South Pacific have logged on to see the structure.

The site peaked at almost 500 hits a second between 10am and 1pm last Monday. See it for yourself at: www.tynebridgewebcam.com/webcams.htm

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Facts and figures

• The bridge will open for shipping to pass through.

• It will use a world-first tilting mechanism to open, turning on pivots on both sides of the river to form a spectacular gateway arch.

• Its opening will resemble the opening and closing of a giant eyelid.

• Each opening or closing will take four minutes.

• The design is so energy efficient it costs just £3.60 each time it opens.

• It has a total span of 413 feet (126 metres) - but the pivoting design demands that it is manufactured precisely to a tolerance of just 1/8th of an inch (3mm).

• It rises 164 feet (50 metres) above river level, but there is just as much below the water - its foundations go down 98 feet (30 metres) to anchor it to the river bed.

• It weighs more than 850 tonnes - enough steel to make 64 double decker buses or 16 Chieftain tanks.

• What you see is not even half the job - it sits on 19,000 tonnes of concrete, enough to make 600,000 paving stones which would stretch 180 miles.

• Two concrete piers on each side of the river hide the massive hydraulic rams, pivots and motors which will open the bridge.

• In daytime the bridge is white with a hint of blue, but at night a multi-coloured light show will transform it and create a stunning reflection in the river.

• Litter dropped on the bridge will automatically roll into special traps at each end every time it opens.

• A series of steel piles in the river are designed to prevent it being hit and can withstand a collision from a 4,000 tonne ship travelling at 4 knots.

• It has been awarded a £9.2m grant from the Millennium Commission.

• The design incorporates a pair of steel arches, one the deck for pedestrians and cyclists, the other supporting it by suspension cables.

• It already features on a Royal Mail stamp.