Puente del Milenio. Lowry. Manchester United Kingdom 1999.
The footbridge is a 92-metre long upper arch. The arch is made up of two inclined rings that are joined in the central area to form a single element. The deck is made up of two lateral beams where the pendentives are anchored, and are joined by transversal beams every 0.50 m and a top plate. The beams are suspended from the arch by inclined pendants that delimit the pedestrian walkway. All the elements of the footbridge are made of metal to minimise its weight. The footbridge platform is protected from the side wind by 1.80 m high glass plates. In the project with which we won the competition, the lifting towers consisted of curved elements with vertical bars on which the walkway and the counterweights moved, which consisted of large spheres that went up and down in full view of everyone. Unfortunately, the towers and counterweights were replaced in the construction by unfortunate ones. The entire structure, both the arches and the deck beams, had to be made open, due to British specifications which do not allow closed, non-accessible metal structures.


