Have you seen the Fan Bridge in Paddington?
Paddington Basin on the Grand Union Canal is undergoing a huge regeneration and the latest addition to the changing landscape is the kinetic sculpture-like Fan Bridge which was unveiled in autumn 2014.
Designed to open like a Japanese hand fan, the Fan Bridge was designed by Knight Architects who won a competition to design the crossing in 2012.
It is a 3 meter wide cantilevered moving structure that spans 20 meters across the head of the Basin.
It rises by means of hydraulic jacks and you can see it in action on Wednesdays and Fridays at 12 noon. And for the rest of the week, when fully closed, it looks more like a standard pedestrian bridge.
How Is It Made?
The main bridge structure is made completely out of steel. The deck of the Fan Bridge is made of five beams which were fabricated in North Yorkshire and brought to Paddington by barge. The beams each open in sequence, with the first rising to an angle of 70-80 degrees; the other four rising to lower levels. The lowest lifts high enough to create a clearance space of 2.5 meters over the surface of the canal.
The beams weigh from 6 to 7 tons and are balanced by a 40 ton counterweight that keeps the beams steady as they rise and fall. While assisting the hydraulic mechanism, the shaped counterweights help reduce the energy required to move the structure. The counterweights are disguised in 'fins' on the north side of the bridge.
This bascule bridge is low maintenance and quiet when lifting.
Having five beams did not increase the cost of manufacture so it was a good chance for "visual drama".
The bridge balustrades are formed from twin rows of inclined overlapping stainless steel rods. The Iroko wooden handrail formed by these balustrades houses a built-in strip of LED lighting to illuminate the structure at night.
Why Is It Here?
The Paddington Basin area has a major regeneration project that involves six new buildings and a waterside plaza at Merchant Square. The Fan Bridge replaces an older footbridge and even though it is almost at the end of the canal basin, The Canal & River Trust stipulate that boats must have full access so the bridge had to be able to raise. This gave the developers an opportunity to commission something more visually interesting as it had to move. Any type of raising drawbridge could have worked here - maybe even a miniature Tower Bridge - but the Fan Bridge offers something very different, and is another attraction for this changing area.
Where Is It?
The Fan Bridge is a footbridge designed to provide a shorter link between the Sunset Terrace and the new park at the Merchant Square site with the rest of Paddington. This can be found near the junction of Praed Street and South Wharf Road, W2. See location on this map.
Another Moving Bridge Nearby
When you come to see the Fan Bridge do also watch Thomas Heatherwick's Rolling Bridge which is also at Paddington Basin, although only across a side inlet. As both bridges 'perform' at midday on Fridays what tends to happen is one goes first and then the other so more people can watch both.
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