Top engineer says closure of Foster/Ove Arup鈥檚 Millennium Bridge is a 鈥渂ody blow鈥� to UK engineering.

A leading bridge engineer has described this week鈥檚 closure of the 拢18m Millennium Bridge as a tragedy for the profession.

Techniker director Matthew Wells said the reputation of British engineers would be hit by the excessive swaying that led to the bridge being closed on Monday.

Wells, who also appeared on 好色先生TVnight this week, told 好色先生TV: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tragedy for the consulting profession. That they should get to this situation and have only found out now is terrible.

鈥淏ritish engineering is supposed to count for something abroad. It鈥檚 a bit of a body blow for the industry.鈥�

The crossing, designed by Foster and Partners and Ove Arup & Partners, looks set to be closed for the summer as measures to prevent the swaying are put in place.

Engineer Ove Arup is expected to control the bridge鈥檚 movement by installing mass dampers, or shock absorbers. It is predicted that the installation would take about two months, following a period of testing over the next few weeks. The cost of the dampers is estimated at 拢250 000.

Commenting on the closure, insiders at Ove Arup said the project team was devastated. One said: 鈥淏oth ourselves and independent advisers did tests on the bridge and found that dampers were not needed. Obviously, we didn鈥檛 think it would move that much.鈥�

The bridge was closed on Monday night at the request of the Millennium Bridge Trust. A spokeswoman for the trust denied that it was because of safety concerns. She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to fall down. If it had been a question of safety, we wouldn鈥檛 have anyone on it in the first place.鈥�

Engineers have suggested a number of reasons for the movement, including aerodynamic problems with the design and the wind tunnel effect created by surrounding buildings.

Architect Lord Foster, who at first denied responsibility for the problems, later said in a statement that everyone was working together to find a solution.

What architects and engineers think about the bouncing bridge

I鈥檓 a very embarrassed man. Me and my company are very embarrassed. We are responsible for the design and this is not something we would have wished Tony Fitzpatrick, Ove Arup & Partners It鈥檚 simply a case of inadequate time. We should not allow ourselves to be pushed around by all this millennium nonsense into opening projects before they are ready. The industry has gone mad for speed Piers Gough, partner, CZWG All the talk previously was about Foster鈥檚 bridge, now suddenly it鈥檚 Ove Arup鈥檚 bridge. The fact is, all bridges sway Stefan Tietz, Consultant to Structural Engineer Cadogan Tietz If there is any embarrassment, then it is over us going along with clients saying we can do something quicker than we actually can Robin Nicholson, Chairman, Construction Industry Council I feel that the architect and engineer should stand up to inadequacies that are perceived to exist. The architect distanced himself very quickly from any responsibility. Colleagues I have spoken to are embarrassed, but there鈥檚 a sense of there but for the grace of God go I Ian Calder, director, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick It鈥檚 egg on the face of the entire engineering profession WS Atkins Engineer