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Cody Dock is a huge ex-industrial dock located off the tidal Lea river. The Dock is now home to a dynamic artistic community who are in the process of transforming the place from dereliction into an oasis of creativity and production. Reopening the dock to the Lea’s tidal waters requires the removal of a dam and the introduction of a footbridge. The new footbridge is one of the final missing links unlocking the ‘Leaway’, a foot/cycle route, running from Hertfordshire, to the Thames. Raising, swinging, sliding, folding and tilting … the solutions to the challenge of the opening bridge are many and varied. Seeing the potential for public spectacle inherent in the opening of a bridge, Thomas set about adding to this long established list of motions. Moving large heavy structures efficiently requires that they are part of balanced systems, and rolling along to the channel it crosses, this unique bridge design works on the same principle of equilibrium. The bridge rolls on undulating rails cast into the concrete abutments on either bank. Ballast fills the top of each square portal, countering the weight of the bridge deck that connects them. This symmetry allows the whole bridge structure to smoothly role through 180 degrees to a fully inverted position facilitating movement of boats from the river to the dock. This finely balanced is this system allows the 12 tonne bridge to be operated via hand winches only. Constructed from weathering steel and oak, it aims to be understated in its rest position but celebratory and playful in its motion. Light-weight balustrades woven from reinforcement bar bound the deck on either side. Part of an ambitious community led regeneration project, this revolutionary bridge will become an important landmark and a symbol of the dynamic creative community, which is growing here. Designed by Thomas Randall-Page Structural Engineering by Price & Myers Fabrication and Installation by Cake Industries Mechanical Engineering by Eadon Consulting Commissioned by Gasworks Dock Partnership Film and Photo Credit to Jim Stephenson @thomasrandall-page6223
