Gatwick Passenger Bridge will be a planespotter's paradise

摘要

Standing next to Taxiway L, one of Gatwick Airport's busiest airside routes, a Jumbo jet rumbled by on cue for the cameras of the assembled media who watched it glide safely under the massive new Passenger Bridge with 2m clearance. When in use the enclosed, fully glazed structure will provide an unrivalled view of planes taxiing by for the estimated 2400 passengers per hour who will use it to get to the new Pier 6. Travelators and walkways will be provided in both directions. It is the largest passenger bridge in the world to span a taxiway, and one of only two in the world, the other being a smaller, less ambitious structure at Denver International Airport, USA, though another one is being investigated in Australia. Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Arup have designed the 197m long bridge at Gatwick Airport for BAA to link the North Terminal with the new Pier 6 satellite building. In line with the airport's Sustainable Development Strategy, it eliminates the 50 000 bus loads necessary to deliver 3.5 million passengers to aircraft at Pier 6 in its first year.