Seven magnificent Millenium Bridge facts

As London’s iconic bridge turns 13

Did you know that the Millennium Bridge aka “Wobbly Bridge” was closed just two days after its launch after concerns about how much it swayed?

Jump ahead 13 years and the bridge has starred in many a film including Hollywood’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to Bollywood’s Namaste London.

The Millennium Bridge links St Paul’s Cathedral on the north bank with Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe in Southwark. It is the capital’s first dedicated pedestrian footbridge

It was 10 June 2000 when the Queen inaugurated the bridge and over 90,000 people walked over it. To mark its 13^th anniversary, we take a look at more facts about the wobbly bridge:

1. The Millennium Bridge was London’s first new Thames crossing in more than 100 years, since Tower Bridge was opened in 1894.

2. The 320m-long structure was designed by the architect Sir Norman Foster with sculptor Sir Anthony Caro and engineers Arup

3. The bridge has two river piers and is made of three main sections of 81 metres (266 ft), 144 metres (472 ft) and 108 metres (354 ft) (North to South) with a total structure length of 325 metres (1,066 ft); the aluminium deck is 4 metres (13 ft) wide

4. It opened on 10th June 2000, closed on 12th June 2000 and was reopened on 27th February 2002.

5. The Millennium Bridge wobbling problem was solved by fitting 91 dampers to absorb lateral and vertical oscillations. It re-opened in 2002 after the changes cost an extra £5m

6. The bridge was temporarily closed on 18 January 2007, during the Kyrill storm due to strong winds and a risk of pedestrians being blown off the bridge.

7. In the 2009 movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the bridge was used to represent the Brockdale Bridge that collapses following a dramatic attach by the Death Eaters