Unique Curling Bridge
Image source: Wikipedia
London is one of the biggest tourist destination but not many are aware about this Unique Curling Bridge (officially known as Rolling Bridge) located at Paddington Basin, London on the Grand Union Canal. It is the only bridge of its kind in the World.
Built in 2004, it is meant for pedestrians and every Friday at noon it is curled into an octagonal circle to allow passage of the boats. When fully opened, the bridge becomes a flat 12.9 metres long walkway spanning the 8.5 metres wide canal. It has eight sections hinged at the walkway level.
The bridge was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, who in 2006 won the "British Designer of the Year" award for this unique bridge.
Image from Google Maps is by UK Jimbo
Image from Google Maps is by Luisa Bollmann
Image from Google Maps is by suzanne hawkins
Image from Google Maps is by Hello Ness Info source: Wikipedia and South East London Meccano Club (Good source of technical information as well as a Mechano Model of Bridge.)
View in Google Maps
Update: March 01, 2009
Groovy23 a member of Google Earth Community visited the Bridge on January 25, 2009 and to his horror he found that the Unique Bridge is gone. Here is a latest photo taken by him.
Groovy23 a member of Google Earth Community visited the Bridge on January 25, 2009 and to his horror he found that the Unique Bridge is gone. Here is a latest photo taken by him.
In his own words;
"We went to a nearby information centre and asked about the bridges' fate. Apparently there was a problem with the arms of the bridge and it was removed 3 months ago for repairs. The man at the info centre said it should be back in around a months time."
Another photographer Trio whose now defunct Panoramio photo I had originally used had also informed by email;
"That photo was taken in summer 2007. When I returned to the same place in summer 2008, the bridge had been removed, and I had to advise some disappointed Dutch tourists of the fact when they asked me where the rolling bridge was located. I returned three months later and it still wasn't there. I have heard rumours that it's removal had something to do with persistent vandalism, which is sad, although not totally unsurprising given how some other landmarks in the area have suffered. I've seen it in operation and it's a great pity that it's not still there for the public to enjoy."
It is sad that the Bridge is gone. I hope it will be back in action soon.
I request readers who are visiting the area or live nearby area to let me know as soon it is functional so that I keen keep my readers up-to-date on the status. Thanks.
Update: April 20, 2009
Groovy23 was kind enough to visit the bridge again and he was happy to see that the Unique Curling Bridge has been re-installed and is back in action.
Thank you Groovy for all your efforts.
Edit Note July 6, 2020
Dead links/defunct photos removed and new photos/links added.
0 comments:
Post a Comment