This brand new Sunderland footbridge, Sunderland Keel Crossing, could so easily have been called BridgeyMcBridgeface, if waggish voters had got their way. Luckily, sanity won out and the £31m Keel Crossing pays homage to the city’s rich shipbuilding history.
Named after the structural backbone of a ship, the iconic bridge allows direct access to the Stadium of Light, meaning the Wearside stadium and Sheepfolds area are now part of the city centre. Council bosses say this will “absolutely transform” Sunderland.
The first pedestrians to cross the bridge did so for the Women’s Rugby World Cup back in August, after which the bridge was closed for another two months while workers completed the final touches ahead of its grand opening in October. It finally opened to a parade of football fans crossing to watch Sunderland v Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Today, any fans arriving in the city centre will be able to reach the stadium in minutes, rather than having to take a lengthy detour to cross the Wearmouth Bridge. It will also give easier access to the new Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HISCA).
Open to both cyclists and pedestrians, the bridge took more than two years to complete. Fittingly, given the city’s heritage, several sections arrived on the River Wear itself, having been manufactured in Ghent, Belgium.
The bridge sits about 30m above the river, spans 250m and is 10m wide. There are two main steel sections, plus 91 deck planks. The team used a bespoke trolley system fitted with winches to gain safe access across the span of the bridge during construction.
Describing the bridge as “iconic”, Ian Cussons, operations director at VolkerStevin, the firm which built the bridge, told the BBC, “It’s a one-off bespoke bridge befitting of this location, very different to other bridges that we’ve seen.”
He added: “The team see these structures come around once in a career – so this is more than what anybody hoped for.”
AtkinsRéalis worked on the initial reference design for the bridge, with the more detailed design developed with Arup and Knight Architects. The crossing is aligned with the Keel Line, a 292m public artwork inlaid into the pavement and listing the vessels built in Sunderland’s shipyards.
The bridge itself is part of an ambitious £2 billion investment, development and urban regeneration programme, which Sunderland City Council hopes will boost business, tourism and culture in the city. From the riverside regeneration of the industrial Sheepfolds area to the addition of Sheepfolds Stables, a leisure and hospitality venue in Grade II listed stable buildings, it looks like the city is on the up.
Even Hairy Biker Si King is getting in on the act, opening his takeaway PROPA! which serves comfort food and a varied lunch and dinner menu. Dishes include nostalgic favourites like mince and dumplings, chicken and leek pie, and even a cornflake tart and custard – a delicacy I don’t think I’d be able to find in Twickenham! The venue has just celebrated its first birthday.
As with any regeneration project, there will be challenges along the way, but it’s good to see this ongoing investment in civil engineering and regeneration. Especially when the media would sometimes have us believe in perpetual doom and gloom.
It’s been a year of ups and downs for many of us, so I’m pleased to end on a positive note with this one. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.
And, as always, if you need any assistance with the structural elements of an upcoming project, please do get in touch.
