Tyne Bridge
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| Tyne Bridge | |
 Tyne Bridge looking east towards the modern The Sage Gateshead and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, with the earlier Swing Bridge in the foreground |
|
| Carries | Motor vehicle A167 road Pedestrians |
|---|---|
| Crosses | River Tyne |
| Locale | Gateshead/Newcastle, England |
| Design | compression arch suspended-deck bridge |
| Longest span | 531ft |
| Total length | 389m |
| Width | 17m |
| Clearance below | 84 ft |
| Opening date | 1928 |
- For the Parliamentary Constituency see Tyne Bridge (UK Parliament constituency)
The 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 10, 1928 by King George V. It is a fine example of a Compression arch suspended-deck bridge.
The Tyne Bridge is also the name of a parliamentary constituency that covers areas of central Newcastle and central Gateshead.
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[edit] History of construction
The earliest bridge across the Tyne, Pons Aelius, was built by the Romans near the location of the present Tyne Bridge. Built around 122, it fell into disrepair, and a stone bridge was built in 1270. This was in turn destroyed by the great flood of 1771. In 1781, a new stone bridge across the Tyne was completed. Increased shipping activity led to the stone bridge being removed in 1866 to make way for construction of the present Swing Bridge, which opened in 1876.
The idea for the present Tyne Bridge goes back to 1864, although the first serious discussions took place in 1883, due to concern about the cost of tolls on the High Level Bridge. Committees met over the next three decades, but it wasn't until the early 1920s that proposals were commenced in earnest, boosted by the chance to secure central government funding. On 29 April 1924, Newcastle and Gateshead approved the plans, and the Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead (Corporations) Bridge Act was passed on 7 August that year, with an estimated cost of £1m including land acquisitions.
Work started in August 1925 with Dorman Long acting as the building contractors. Despite the dangers of the building work, only one worker died in the building of this structure, which cost £1.2m when complete.
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. During construction, before the road deck had been installed, the costermongers of Newcastle wrote to the Lord Mayor to express their concern that their horses would not be able to cross as the arch was too steep.
The bridge was completed on 25 February 1928 and opened on 10 October by King George V and Queen Mary, who were the first to use the roadway travelling in their Ascot landau. 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 not completed and, as a result, the storage areas were never used. Lifts for passengers and goods were built in the towers to provide access to the Quayside, but these are no longer in use. 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 the year 2000. The bridge spans 531 feet and the road deck is 84 feet above the river level.
| Total Length (includes approaches) | 389 metres |
| Length of main arch span (pier to pier) | 161.8 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) | 17.08 metres |
| Width (approaches) | 24 metres |
| Total weight of steelwork (arch only) | 3,556 metric tonnes |
| Total weight of steelwork (including approaches) | 7,112 metric tonnes |
[edit] 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 balloons 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.
Upon opening the bridge carried the A1 road however following the opening of the Tyne Tunnel in the late 1950's the A1 was diverted to the East and the road became the A6127. Following the construction of the Newcastle Western Bypass, the A1 moved again and the bridge was redesignated as A167 which it remains today.
[edit] Photo Gallery
 The Tyne Bridge, in green, seen from the north of the River Tyne. The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is in the foreground. |
 Tyne Bridge seen from the north. |
 2006 The Tyne Bridge at night. |
[edit] External links
- Map sources for Tyne Bridge
[edit] Webcams
- Tyne - In Pictures. Webcam from the BBC.
- Tyne Bridge Webcam. Webcam from Telewest.
[edit] Pictures
- BBC Nation on Film. From the BBCi homepage. Includes footage of the construction of the Tyne Bridge. Retrieved April 23, 2005.
- BBC Tyne In PIctures - Panorama. 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. Retrieved April 23, 2005.
[edit] References
[edit] 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 1-873513-28-3.
- Linsley, S. Spanning the Tyne: Building of the Tyne Bridge, 1925-28. Newcastle Libraries and Information Service, Newcastle City Council. 1998. ISBN 1-85795-009-7.
- Manders, F. & Potts, R. Crossing the Tyne. Tyne Bridge Publishing. 2001. ISBN 1-85795-121-2.
[edit] Web sites
- BBC Inside Out - Tyne Bridge. From the BBCi homepage. Retrieved April 23, 2005.
