• The forum upgrades are now largely complete.
    Please read this thread for more details.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.

Keel Crossing [opened 18.10.25] - compendium thread


It didnt 'collapse'. It suffered from a known engineering principle known as resonant frequency. People walking at the same speed tend to get in line and all those feet hitting the deck at the same time caused the bridge to vibrate.

They fixed it with some strategically placed reinforcments as far as I know.

Similar things have brought down suspension bridges in the past and the variable height of the 'screening' on the sides of the new bridge are probably a way of mitigating that.
It’s a clip from Harry Potter, a story about wizards
 
Does anyone know if there is a plan in place to test how it holds up under the weight of full match-day footfall? It almost feels like we are being made the guinea pigs to test its strength. A mate of mine was on a run down the river, he worked on the Megyeri Bridge whilst living out in Budapest and said he had some real worries about the standard of work on our new footbridge. He said the abutments (end supports for transferring loads) didn’t look sufficient for the loads it would need to transfer on a matchday.
Best take it back down. I’m sure nobody really looked into it and it sounds pretty dangerous
 
So long as Severfield Construction haven’t been involved given their monumental cock ups with nine bridges on HS2 in the Birmingham area, the Coalhouse roundabout at Birtley and now seemingly issues at the new Spurs ground. So yea, it should be quite safe. I think.
 
Lest we forget.
The Hylton Bridge A19 road bridge over the Wear at was under construction circa 1970 when a similarly constructed bridge (Box Girder) collapsed with loss of life on the Yarra River in Australia. Both the structural design engineers (Freeman Fox) and the installation contractors of the were found to be at fault . The Hylton Bridge construction was stopped and redesigned based on the Yarra Bridge Inquiry findings.
 
My Mate flys the Air/Sea Rescue Helicopter. He’s been put on high alert for the opening… Just in case.

So don’t worry Lads.
 
Lad who lives over the road is very high up in planning for Sunderland city Council, and said there is no chance , of bridge being open for 1st game , there's a possibility for the rugger , but official hand over date is and always has been start of October
 
To be fair ,it would seem that the central steel span was “bounce and flex tested ( in the spirit of energy conservation) by the North Sea on it’s journey from Belgium. Pictures seem to show the heavier ends of the span overhanging the towed barge with the lighter centre being unrestrained.



 
It's a known problem on the Clifton Suspension Bridge. 95% of the time it's fine, but there are issues when there's a high attendance event at Ashton Court just across the river (like the Balloon Fiesta), so the bridge closes to all motor and pedestrian traffic while it's on. People tend to subconsciously fall into step too, which just makes it worse. Of course, as a 19th century construction, there wasn't the same attention to detail as now, even though Brunel was well ahead of his time.

You mean Barlow and Hawkshaw?
 
The new road bridge, Northern Spire was supposedly sinking into the river and the SoL was going to collapse down some disused mine shaft. The weight of the Status Quo helicopter on the opening game would open it up with the Quo and hundreds never to be seen again. The glass centre roof, eerrr forgot about that one.

Always love the posts that start with my mate, imagine having a mate who works at the hospital as a porter who can give expert opinion on brain surgery. Sunderland must be full of architects, structural engineers, doctors, surgeons, billionaires. You can find them on here or frequenting the local bus services. The number of locals who think the bridge is a waste of money gets me. Even after what happened in Liverpool with the car crashing into the pedestrians. Very surprised nobody hasn't been badly hurt on Wearmouth bridge after the match, dodging buses etc. Surely separating pedestrians and vehicles is a good thing. I asked one bloke why it was a waste of money, if the answer was proximity to Wearmouth bridge whatabout the Millennium bridge in Newcastle, swing bridge very close - his answer, ahh but that's pretty. I walked away.
 
Lad who lives over the road is very high up in planning for Sunderland city Council, and said there is no chance , of bridge being open for 1st game , there's a possibility for the rugger , but official hand over date is and always has been start of October
The rugger was the hoped for date a while back rather than the W hAm game.
 
Lad who lives over the road is very high up in planning for Sunderland city Council, and said there is no chance , of bridge being open for 1st game , there's a possibility for the rugger , but official hand over date is and always has been start of October
It will be open for the rugby and then it will close again to finish it
 
I am sure the bridge will be rated for the expected load. I am more concerned about congestion and contraflow at full time. Its bad enough going down the back streets around Sheepfolds, best avoided.
 
Back
Top