The eighth Newcastle/Gateshead bridge or Bambuco Bridge was a temporary suspension bridge spanning the River Tyne, made entirely from bamboo wood. The bridge which was the eighth to connect Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead was only a sculpture and was not be used for human or vehicular transport. The bridge opened for its three day run at 10:00am on 18 July 2008, and closed on 20 July; the opening coincided with the start of the ten day SummerTyne festival. Events were also being held at the Sage Gateshead and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art during the SummerTyne festival. There was a light show at 21:00 on 18 July to officially mark the occasion. After the three day period, the bridge was dismantled in late July.
Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead commissioned the Australian based firm Bambuco to create the bridge sculpture from 20 tonnes (in 800 pieces) of bamboo in 2008, the 80th anniversary of the construction of the Tyne Bridge. The bridge began construction in late June 2008 between the Tyne Bridge and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and spans 120m across the river, at a height of 25m; the construction of the bridge could be seen on the North Tower web cam of the Tyne Bridge. The bridge which had its legs next to the HMS Calliope on the Gateshead bank and the law courts on the Newcastle bank was also at a slight angle, unlike the other bridges. Bambuco are based in Sydney, home of the bridge which is similar in design to the Tyne Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The late founder of Bambuco, Simon Barley had the initial idea of a bamboo bridge over the Tyne, but died in 2007 before the project could be undertaken; Bambuco toyed with calling this bridge the Bridge of Si’s, a play on Venice’s Bridge of Sighs.
Image gallery
References
External links
- Bambuco
- Bamboo bridge at Newcastle City Council
- Bamboo Bridge feature at BBC Tyne
- Opening night image gallery at Journal Live
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Last updated on Wednesday September 24, 2008 at 02:52:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
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