Project diary

Latest diary update
We are now very close to an elegant and practical solution for the bridge. Different sites present a variety of challenges so there will be considerable testing and refinement to ensure the solution has sufficient flexibility to perform across the region.

We will investigate more detailed constructional issues with specialist manufacturers and with a clear idea of the cost we can approach sponsors with realistic costings.

The two front runners for sites, Bedford and Ipswich, have supported the concept from the start and both offer opportunities to forge new connections as well as be an entertainment space in its own right.

Other individual towns and cities that we are approaching include Chelmsford, Peterborough and Norwich - we also see great potential to bring together a number of smaller towns, for example, Huntingdon, St Neots, St Ives on the Great Ouse for a river based festival to complement existing celebrations.

Diary update August 2004
We love the landmark east project because it embodies many of the things that excite us – difficult and innovative engineering structures which have the possibility of uniting communities and exploiting the major natural resource of the East of England Waterways, without leaving too much of a permanent imprint on the landscape.

Some of our predecessors have caused great damage with insensitive engineering structures in both towns and rural areas – we want to stop that rot. We see engineering as one of the key tools that we can use to make people’s daily lives better, as compatible with our human needs as possible and most importantly, in ways that do not damage the world, the universe and everything.

With this in mind, since the winners announcement we’ve been talking to the Environment Agency about any potential issues surrounding the Watermarking idea, as well as talking to potential customers. There are plenty of takers out there – all we need now are the bridges themselves…

Diary update December 2004
There are two distinct areas of development which we've been pursuing. One is the nature and form of the floating bridge, the other is links with local communities.

The main progress has been on the technical side. We've had some discussions with Professor Pelligrino of the University of Cambridge who conducts research into deployable structures. This has helped us to quickly establish some likely viable forms for the structure. From this we have established two distinctly different base concept options. One mechanically relatively simple and with a straightforward physical form, the other more mechanically more demanding and more exciting. We're now beginning to explore both of these potential forms in the context of some real sites to test their appropriateness and adaptability to different locations.

The team is conscious that a critical part of the success of our project will be engaging potential sponsor's interests, and in this respect we must produce a beautiful structure as well as something which addresses the practical issues.

We're researching specific locations in the East of England with the aim of establishing three or four places where the bride could set off on its journey, and to begin to define its first three years or so of its travels. In this context we are looking at various arts and cultural groups within the region who might become involved in the process of planning events schedules at the specific locations. We attended the landmark east event for winners in Newmarket and found that very useful for understanding the other projects and for gaining wider contacts. It also brought home to us the potential for uniting the four projects in some way which would make the sum of parts greater than the whole. Something to think about over the next few weeks.....

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