Tyne Bridge

The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne 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. At the time of its construction it was the world's longest single span bridge. The bridge was officially opened on 10 October 1928 by King George V and has since become a defining symbol of Tyneside. It currently stands as the tenth tallest structure in the city.

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 a bridge at the location of the present Tyne Bridge dates back to 1864, due to concern about the cost of tolls on the High Level Bridge - although the first serious discussions took place in 1883. 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 £1 million including land acquisitions. The final cost on completion was £1.2 million. Work started in August 1925 with Dorman Long acting as the building contractors. Despite the dangers of the building work, only one worker (Charles Tosh) died in the building of this structure.

The Tyne Bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson who based their design on the Hell Gate Bridge in New York (which was completed in 1916). 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 although they 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 in 2000. The bridge spans 531 feet (162 m) and the road deck is 84 feet (26 m) above the river level.

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 10.55 pm. The tram lines were subsequently removed, although some vestiges of these remain such as redundant fixings for overhead power lines.

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 open in 1928.

Upon opening, the bridge carried the A1 road. Following the opening of the Tyne Tunnel in 1967 however, 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 the A167 which it remains today.

Maintenance

The bridge had a major refurbishment in 2001.

In June 2022, the Department for Transport and the local government funded the cycled refurbishment of the bridge. The costs increased from £12 million to £32 million during the negotiation period. On 11 September 2023, work began, and estimations calculated the work would take four years. The agreement involved a full repaint of the rusted steelwork. The local governments from Newcastle and Gateshead also contracted work for critical structural repairs, including steel and concrete fixes, bridge joint replacements, drainage improvements, waterproofing and resurfacing, and parapet protection. Work on the main bridge deck started in April 2024, with completion expected in time for the bridge's centenary in 2028

Description courtesy of Wikipedia.

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10th December 2024

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2nd June 2024

Bridge Restoration.

The repairs begin the move from under the Gateshead side to the Newcastle side.

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20th December 2023

Taken from Castle Garth.

Scaffolding goes up on the Gateshead side for the long awaited repairs which begins soon.

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22nd September 2023

Taken from Manors Car Park.

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28th August 2023

Under the north tower.

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17th July 2023

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8th November 2022

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29th September 2022

The north tower.

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4th July 2022

The south east tower.

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22nd June 2022

The north east lift.

The annual nesting Kittiwakes.

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25th April 2022

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23rd March 2022

A bright, but misty, morning.

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4th November 2021

Newcastle western tower.

Under Newcastle tower.

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18th October 2021

Gateshead eastern tower.

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More Information:

• Sitelines - New Tyne Bridge
• Sitelines - Gateshead, Tyne Bridge, public conveniences
• Sitelines - Tyne Bridge, blue stone
• Wikipedia - Tyne Bridge
• BBC Inside Out - Tyne Bridge
• Pictures Of Gateshead - Tyne Bridge Under Construction in old postcards and photographs
• Amber Online - Building The Tyne Bridge
• BBC Nation on Film - Tyne Bridge Construction
• Bridges On The Tyne - Tyne Bridge
• Historic England - Tyne Bridge
• Co-Curate - Tyne Bridge

Videos:

• Youtube - New Tyne Bridge. Opening of the Tyne Bridge, 1928.
• Youtube - Building Of The New Tyne Bridge. A short video of the Tyne Bridge being constructed.
• Youtube - Building Of The Tyne Bridge. Archive pictures showing the building of the Tyne Bridge

My other photos of bridges on the Tyne:

• Bamboo Bridge (2008)
• High Level Bridge
• King Edward Bridge
• Millennium Bridge
• Millennium Bridge Bollards Removal
• QE II Bridge (Metro Bridge)
• Redheugh Bridge
• Swing Bridge