The Tyne Bridge
The Tyne Bridge is one of the greatest symbols of Tyneside, a testament to the regions industrial pride and engineering excellence. The Tyne Bridge is one of the most instantly recognisable bridges in the world. Opened in 1928 by their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary on the 9th October.
The bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson of London who based their design on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This in turn derived its design from the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. Many people think that the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia was based on the Tyne Bridge. This is not the case, 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, three years after the Tyne Bridge.
It was back in the late 19th century that the city fathers started talking about building a new Tyne Bridge to ease traffic congestion and provide a new river crossing. But it wasn’t until 1924 that plans to build today's bridge started to take shape. Work began in August 1925 and it took Dorman, Long and Co., Ltd of Middlesbrough just three years to complete the giant structure.
The bridge was built like a ship, using shipbuilding techniques with rivets and panels which were welded together. The main span of the bridge is a steel arch, which takes the form of a lattice framework. At the time it was the largest single span bridge in the world, but then the record was broken by the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which opened in 1932. The Tyne Bridge’s towers were built of Cornish granite and were designed as warehouses with five storeys but were never completed. Passenger and goods lifts were built in the towers to provide access to the Quayside.
Some facts about the bridge
- The total cost of the bridge was £1,200,000.
- Built by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough.
- The road deck is 84 feet above the water.
- The bridge has a 531 feet span.
- The weight of the bridge is 7,112 metric tonnes.
the Goat Inn, the Earl of Durham, the Ridley Arms, the Steamboat Inn, Ray's lodging house, a powder mill, a pickle factory and a bank.
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 Millennium.