Ovingham Bridges are a pair of side-by-side vehicle and pedestrian bridges across the River Tyne linking

Ovingham Ovingham is a civil parish and village in the Tyne Valley of south Northumberland, England. It lies on the River Tyne east of Hexham with neighbours Prudhoe, Ovington, Wylam and Stocksfield. The River Tyne provided an obstacle between O ...

and

Prudhoe Prudhoe ( ) is a town in south Northumberland, England, about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and just south of the River Tyne. Situated on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley, Prudhoe had a population of 11,675 at the 201 ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England. Following a lengthy refurbishment programme by Northumberland County Council, Ovingham Bridge re-opened to vehicles on 5 September 2016. The vehicle bridge is a

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of reduced width for cars and light vans only. There is no footpath; pedestrians use the separate footbridge that runs alongside and with the same deck level. The centre piers are set wider, allowing the deck to spread and two vehicles can pass, although this is rare. No traffic controls are installed; drivers observe the far end and wait or enter the bridge using a set of unwritten rules that usually function well.

History

It was built in 1883 by the Ovingham Bridge Company and replaced the earlier ferry. The steel tubes are marked Dorman Long

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, the firm that designed and built the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

and the

Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...

. It was originally opened and operated as a toll bridge until 1945. The toll house has long since been demolished. It was located on the downstream side at the southern end of the bridge. In 1974 a footbridge was erected alongside, immediately downstream of the main bridge. In 2009 both bridges underwent a strengthening programme as they had been closed during the January floods of 2005.

Gabion A gabion (from Italian ''gabbione'' meaning "big cage"; from Italian ''gabbia'' and Latin ''cavea'' meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road buildin ...

s were installed around the base of the pilings to prevent scour, and the river channel was dredged to direct the main flow away from the piers. As the original piling depths were not recorded, brackets were welded to the pilings and seismic pulse testing performed. On 30 June 2014, the vehicle bridge was closed for extensive maintenance projected to take around 12 months. A small closing ceremony saw the last vehicle to cross – a horse and cart – as a reminder of the first vehicle to cross when it was originally opened. During May and June 2014, access trackways were built to the underside of both ends of the bridges, and extensive steel scaffolding installed below and to both sides of the bridge structure. The scaffolds even incorporated wooden boarded cutwaters to protect the scaffold if the river should flood. Lattice long span 'unit beams' were fitted to all spans except the North and South. Concrete pads were cast below the bridge end spans adjacent to the approach roads so that the spans could be jacked up. This was to allow extensive modification of the area where the steel bridge rests on the stone abutment. New concrete structures were cast as pier caps and compliant pads installed to allow the entire span to expand and contract with seasonal temperature changes. The bridge deck including cross beams were completely replaced. The footbridge was also due to be closed and have new decking. Pedestrians were redirected to use the main bridge whilst this was underway.

References

External links

Ovingham toll bridge
{{River item box , River = River Tyne , upstream =

Bywell Bridge Bywell Bridge is a 19th-century stone bridge across the River Tyne. It is a Grade II listed building. History The bridge was opened in 1838. It was built at a cost of £15,000, which was paid by the local landowner T W Beaumont. The designer ...

, upsub = {{UK road, B6309 , downstream = Wylam Bridge , type = road bridge , thisis = Ovingham Bridges , table = end , location = NZ086636 Bridges completed in 1883 Crossings of the River Tyne Bridges in Northumberland Former toll bridges in England Prudhoe

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...