Tyne Bridge

Tyne Bridge is a bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. It was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, and was built by Dorman, Long and Co. of Middlesbrough. It was officially opened on October 9, 1928 by George V. It is a fine example of a Compression arch suspended-deck bridge.

Tyne Bridge is also the name of a parliamentary constituency that covers areas of central Newcastle and western Gateshead.

History of construction

Old Tyne Bridge

The earliest bridge across the Tyne was built by the Romans, Pons Aelius, near the location of the present Tyne Bridge. After it fell into disrepair, a stone bridge was built in 1270 but this was destroyed by the great flood of 1771. In 1781, a new stone bridge across Tyne completed. Due to increased shipping activity, the stone bridge was removed in 1866 for construction of the present Swing Bridge, which opened in 1876.

The idea for the present Tyne Bridge goes back to 1883 but it was not until 1924 that the plan to build this major river crossing finally was approved. Work started in August 1925 with Dorman Long of Middlesbrough acting as the building contractors. Despite the dangers of the building work, only one worker died in the building of this amazing structure, which cost £1,200,000 to build.

The Tyne Bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson who based their design on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which in turn derived its design from the Hell Gate Bridge in New York.

The bridge was completed and opened in 1928 by King George V and the Queen who were the first to use the roadway travelling in their Ascot landau.

There is a view that the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia was based on the Tyne Bridge. In fact, Work started on the Sydney Bridge before building began on the Tyne Bridge. The confusion arises because the Sydney Harbour Bridge took longer to complete due to its larger size. The Sydney Harbour Bridge finally opened in 1932

The Tyne Bridge's towers were built of Cornish granite and were designed as warehouses with five storeys. However, the inner floors of the warehouses in the bridge's towers were never completed and, as a result, the storage areas were never used.

Passenger and goods lifts were built in the towers to provide access to the Quayside. These are still in use today.

The bridge was originally painted green with special paint made by J. Dampney Co. of Gateshead. The same colours were used to paint the bridge for its Millennium year.

The road deck is 84 feet above the water. The bridge has a 531 feet span.

Total Length (including approaches)......................389 metres

Length of main arch span (pier to pier)..................162 metres

Rise of Arch (above pins).......................................55 metres

Clear Height (above high water level)......................26 metres

Total Height (above high water level)......................59 metres

Width (bridge).....................................................17 metres

Width (approaches)..............................................24 metres

Total weight of steelwork (arch only)..............3,556 metric tonnes

Total weight of steelwork (inc approaches)......7,112 metric tonnes

History of operations

Tram lines were built into the Tyne Bridge structure and ready for immediate use after the opening ceremony in October 1928. Tram car No. 289 was the last Newcastle tram to run into Gateshead over the Tyne Bridge on Sunday 5 March 1950 at approximately 10.55pm. The tram lines were subsequently removed.

Golden jubilee celebrations were held on 10 October 1978, when one thousand ballons were released into the sky above the Tyne to celebrate the anniversary of the Tyne Bridge. To mark the occasion a cavalcade of vintage vehicles and a procession of people in period dress stopped traffic, re-creating the opening ceremony when King George V declared the bridge opening 1928.

External links

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Webcams

• Tyne - In Pictures (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/webcams/tyne_bridge_webcam.shtml). Webcam from the BBC.
• Tyne Bridge Webcam (http://www.tynebridgewebcam.com/). Webcam from Telewest.

Pictures

• BBC Nation on Film (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nationonfilm/topics/misc-work/tyne-bridge-construction-building.shtml). From the BBCi homepage. Includes footage of the construction of the Tyne Bridge. Retrieved April 23, 2005.
• BBC Tyne In PIctures - Panorama (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/panoramas/360_stmarys.shtml). Panoramic view of Tyne Bridge. Retrieved April 23, 2005.
• Photographs from the Dorman Long collection of the building of Newcastle upon Tyne's George V or Tyne Bridge in the 1920 (http://www.amber-online.com/gallery/exhibition29/). Retrieved April 23, 2005.

References

Books

• Addyman, J. and Fawcett, B. The High Level Bridge and Newcastle Central Station: 150 Years Across the Tyne. By the North Eastern Railway Association for the High Level Bridge. 1999. ISBN 1873513283.
• Linsley, S. Spanning the Tyne: Building of the Tyne Bridge, 1925-28. Newcastle Libraries and Information Service, Newcastle City Council. 1998. ISBN 1857950097.

Web sites

• BBC Inside Out - Tyne Bridge (http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northeast/series3/tyne_bridge_northeasthistory.shtml). From the BBCi homepage. Retrieved April 23, 2005.