Photographer: My son Kai Olson
Date: May, 2013
Subject: London's only pedestrian bridge, the Millennium Bridge stretches 325 meters (approximately 1,066 feet) across the Thames River. Built in 2000 as part of the city's millennium celebration, it is the first bridge built across the Thames since the building of the magnificent Tower Bridge in 1894. The bridge links the City and St Paul's Cathedral on the north bank with Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Tate Modern in Southwark.
Photo Trivia: When the suspension bridge first opened, the high volume of foot traffic caused the bridge to be "wobbly" due to greater than expected lateral movement. The bridge was closed temporarily and extensive research revealed that this lateral movement was caused by synchronised pedestrian footfall—a phenomenon of which little was previously known in the engineering world. The solution was to fit dampers hidden beneath the deck to mitigate movement. The bridge repair research by the engineers resulted in changes to the codes for bridge building worldwide.
Image: Photo above by Kai Olson. Feel free to pin image on Pinterest with a link back to this post. Thanks!
