THE CIVIL engineer responsible for many distinctive buildings of the 20th Century will be permanently remembered next to his favourite structure.

A copy of a bronze portrait head of the late Sir Ove Arup, and an accompanying plaque, will be unveiled at Kingsgate Bridge, in Durham, next week.

The ceremony, which will be performed by his daughter, Karin Perry, will take place at the Dunelm House approach to the pedestrian bridge, on Wednesday, 108 years after the engineer's birth to Danish parents, in Newcastle.

Following the ceremony a talk will be given by John Martin, who worked on the Kingsgate Bridge project with Sir Ove, prior to its opening in December 1963.

Mr Martin became chairman of Ove Arup and Partners before his retirement and is now a consultant with the company.

The event, in the nearby Elvet Riverside lecture building I, will also feature a video made from a 1963 film, showing Sir Ove overseeing the completion of the bridge. The work involved the cast halves of the concrete span being swivelled into place from opposite riverbanks.

Sir Ove specialised in reinforced concrete structures and helped establish the modern movement of British civil engineering in the 1930s.

Other works by Sir Ove include the folded shells of Sydney Opera House, the structural design of Coventry Cathedral and the Pompidou Centre, in Paris.

In Durham, Sir Ove was also responsible for the bridge's neighbour, Dunelm House, the student union complex in New Elvet, as well as the 150ft telecommunications mast at police headquarters at Aykley Heads, Durham. Last week the mast was awarded Grade II-listed status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Wednesday's memorial event is being staged by the City of Durham Trust, which has received funding and support from Ove Arup and Partners over the years.

The copy of Sir Ove Arup's head is taken from a bronze portrait made for a Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1988.