Keep on running
Adam wants to enter the record books. But how fast can your legs carry you?
Mystery solved
It cost 18 million pounds, but when it opened the Millennium Bridge wobbled. Engineers were mystified: the explanation was about more than just science. Uncover the explanation for the Millennium Bridge wobble.
Science Shack takes on the Millennium Bridge wobble, aided by a Vauxhall Astra and some olive oil. Their diary will take you behind the scenes, warts and all.
Today Adam and the Science Shack team are on the banks of the River Thames in London, outside the Tate Modern Gallery.
11am
First thing this morning, the team are back on the Science Shack Millennium Bridge Simulator to carry out more tests. We know from yesterday's opening that the Astra suspension acted as dampeners and held the bridge still, but this morning the team want to quantify the success. A seismograph type gadget is attached to the bridge and the team get it wobbling without dampeners attached. Our gadget produces a very satisfying “tremor – like” pattern, when the team stop moving it takes 5 swings for the bridge to stop swaying.
Marty and Jem fix the Astra shock absorbers back on ready to test the bridge swing again, if effective, the swing on the bridge will be less on the seismograph pattern. The Astra suspension dampeners are in fact so effective that Sophia and Ruth can’t get the bridge swinging to start the test. They call in an extra swinger – Jem to get the bridge moving. The pattern shows that the bridge is only swinging very slightly, and that’s with extra help to get it moving. When the team stop moving the bridge sways only once – “A triumph for dampers!”
1pm
The Science Shack sits empty as Adam and the team head onto the real Millennium Bridge to find out how they are fixing the wobble problem, could our experiments and findings give them a hand?
Adam talks to Roger, the Millennium Bridge project Director. It seems they have already thought of our idea of dampers and they hope it will be as successful at fixing their wobble as it was for ours. He also explains that the lateral movement caused by people’s feet and the increase in sideways movement as people walk in time has been experienced by other bridges in the past. However, the makers of the Millennium Bridge claim they’re the first to investigate it and try to fix it. They reckon it’s now the most damped bridge in the world!
Arup’s dampers come in two varieties. Vertical – to stop the up and down movement and Lateral dampers – to stop the sideways wobble. Engineer Ron Hall takes up the decking and shows us how they work.
1.30pm
Filming ends.
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Content last updated: 29/09/2005
