19 April 2011

Where to now? 10 years of 21st century bridge design

This could be an interesting talk, for anyone in the London area on 5th May.

The IABSE British Group's Annual Lecture is being presented by Keith Brownlie of Wilkinson Eyre, the venue is the Institution of Structural Engineers, near Victoria, with the lecture starting at 6pm. Full details are available online, including a flyer.

Brownlie has been prominently involved in many of Wilkinson Eyre's landmark bridge designs, including the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. The talk will address the influence of the Millennium structures on his design team's more recent projects, and "consider the bridge design market as it pulls clear of the influence of the Millennium".

I would expect it to be very interesting, as the turn of the Millennium and the flurry of design contests and investment in icons which followed was simultaneously a short-lived bubble and also a source of inspiration to bridge promoters everywhere. Was it a brief golden age, or a period which has permanently changed design aspirations, options for bridge procurement, and the way bridge design teams operate?

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