6:28PM, Tue Jul 24, 2012

Gateshead Millennium Bridge Tilting Every Day For Summer Tourists

By Joe Daunt Location: Gateshead Quayside

Visitors to the Quayside can catch the award winning Gateshead Millennium Bridge tilting every day this summer.

Every lunchtime at around 12pm the bridge will now lift to allow boats to pass up the River Tyne.

The unique design of the bridge means that it resembles a blinking eye when it tilts. This feature is achieved through very precise engineering and is part of the reason that the bridge has won such a huge number of awards.

Gateshead Council Cabinet Member for Culture, Councillor Linda Green said:

“Gateshead Millennium Bridge is an absolutely fantastic asset for local people and a real draw for tourists from much further afield.

These daily tilts will give people living and working in the Quayside area something very special to enjoy at lunchtimes and will give others even more reason to travel to the bridge.

"Gateshead Millennium Bridge tilts fairly regularly so that the usual river traffic can flow through it, but there are now scheduled times during the summer months.