The Hull River is one of the important transport arteries of Kingston upon Hull, and the new pedestrian bridge was not supposed to interfere with the movement of numerous ships. Bureau McDowell + Benedetti won the competition for the best design of this structure, proposing to make the bridge not a drawbridge, but a pivot.
In terms of the plan, the new bridge has the shape of a comma, the "tail" of which is actually the span connecting the river banks, and the round base, adjacent to the right bank, has two tiers and serves to accommodate the viewing platform and the swing mechanism. This part of the structure also works as a counterweight, and it can rotate around its axis due to single and double wheels, which rests on a round concrete platform with a diameter of 16 meters. The reliability and stability of the latter, in turn, is ensured by 30-meter piles with a diameter of 1.6 meters.
The mobility of the span itself is also provided by wheels that move along a special arcuate rail laid above the water at some distance from the central platform. The mechanism is activated using a radio control panel, and the transformation itself takes only two minutes in time: the attendant closes the reception area on the left bank, and the bridge begins to move, gradually pressing the span to the right bank and almost completely freeing the river bed.
The speed of movement of the structure is no more than 0.15 m / s, which makes this process completely safe for people on the bridge, they can even climb the bridge from the right bank during its turn. That is why benches and railings are equipped on the turning platform: the authors of the project initially believed that the transformable bridge would attract visitors, and their calculation turned out to be correct. The new pedestrian bridge managed to become one of the favorite attractions of townspeople and tourists, and the expressive silhouette of this structure and its black steel cladding organically fit it into the river panoramas of the city.
A new public space has been created next to the bridge on the right bank of the Hull River: the historic center of the city is located there, and the bridge serves as its "gate".
