St Paul's Cathedral and City of London from the south bank of the River Thames near Millennium Bridge (The Wobbly Bridge)


The Millennium Bridge, officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Thames in London, England, linking Bankside with the City. It is located between Southwark Bridge (downstream) and Blackfriars Railway Bridge (upstream). The bridge is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. Construction of the bridge began in 1998, with the opening on 10 June 2000. Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "Wobbly Bridge" after participants in a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children to open the bridge felt an unexpected, and, for some, uncomfortable, swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed later that day, and after two days of limited access the bridge was closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the wobble entirely. It was reopened in 2002. The southern end of the bridge is near Globe Theatre, the Bankside Gallery and Tate Modern, the north end next to the City of London School below St Paul's Cathedral. The bridge alignment is such that a clear view of St Paul's south facade is presented from across the river, framed by the bridge supports. The nearest London Underground station is Mansion House. Ordinarily bridges across the River Thames require an Act of Parliament. For this bridge that was avoided by the Port of London Authority granting a licence for the structure and the obtaining of planning permissions from the City of London and London Borough of Southwark.[1] Construction began in late 1998 and the main works were started on 28 April 1999 by Monberg Thorsen and Sir Robert McAlpine.[2] The bridge was completed at a cost of £ (£ over budget), primarily paid for by the Millennium Commission and the London Bridge Trust.[3] It opened on 10 June 2000 (two months late).


Size: 4946px × 3297px
Location: London, England, UK
Photo credit: © PHILMACD|PHOTOGRAPHY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: bankside, blackfriars, bridge, business, capital, cathedral, christopher, city, cityscape, dome, footbridge, london, mcadam, mcalpine, millennium, modern, monberg, paternoster, pauls, pedestrian, river, robert, southwark, square, st, tate, thames, thorsen, walkway, wobbly, wren