River Tyne - The Tyne Bridge (1928)

Taken from the Newcastle Quayside - NCN 72
with Swing - High Level - Metro Bridges
in the background.

Motivated by traffic congestion on the High Level Bridge and stoppages caused by frequent openings of the Swing Bridge, the contract for this road bridge was awarded to Dorman, Long & Co of Middlesborough according to specifications prepared by the engineers Mott, Hay and Anderson.

It is often believed that the Tyne Bridge was the model for the Sydney Harbour Bridge but in fact it is actually a scaled-down version of that bridge, which Dorman Long were already working on.
The Sydney harbour Bridge has a span over three time longer at 1650 feet

The confusion arises due to the fact that the Tyne Bridge was completed
nearly three years ahead of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Tyne Bridge - The arch nearing completion. 22.2.1928
with Swing Bridge in foreground.

The arch was constructed out from each bank by the use of cranes, without obstructing the river.
The arch steelwork during construction was tied back by cables until the two sides met,
and was finally closed on 25th Feb. 1928.

At the time of its opening, the bridge was the largest single-span bridge in Britain.
The span is 531 feet and 3500 tons of steelwork were used.

The bridge, which carries traffic 93 feet above the river, has become the icon of Newcastle,
and is enhanced by two pairs of granite towers at each end. These were designed to be
warehouses with five floors but these were never constructed. They also contained
goods and passenger lifts connecting to the quayside below but are no longer in use.

The bridge was painted green with a specially developed paint by J.Dampney & Co. Gateshead
and the colour was faithfully reproduced during the bridge repaint of 2000.

The Tyne Bridge was officially opened by King George V on 10th.Oct. 1928

Total cost of the bridge was £1,200,000

© Doug-on-the-Tyne - 2004