Tilt bridge

The tilting Gateshead Millennium Bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on the north is a pedestrian bridge with two large hydraulic rams at each side that tilt the structure back allowing small watercraft to pass under.

[1] The pedestrian and cycle pathway is an almost-horizontal curve, suspended above the river from a just-beyond-the-vertical parabolic arch.

As the arch tilts lower, the pathway rises, each counterbalancing the other so that a minimum of energy is needed.

The resultant appearance in motion leads to it sometimes being called the "eyelid bridge", since its shape is akin to the blinking of an eye if seen from along the river.

The latter is mounted on two lifting arms which are connected to fixed pivot points a few feet downstream from the bridge leaf.