The Redheugh Bridge (, ) is a road bridge spanning the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

west of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

city centre on the north bank and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

town centre on the south bank, in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

. It currently carries the

A189 road List of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is ...

The first crossing

Plans to build a bridge across the River Tyne to link the western extremities of Newcastle and Gateshead were first proposed in 1830, and were revived in 1859. Both schemes anticipated a combined road and rail bridge. The 1859 plans were thwarted by the North Eastern Railway, who had their own plans for a rail bridge. The promoter of the bridge was Richard Cail, a prominent builder in Newcastle, and he subsequently proposed a road bridge. Cail had formerly acted as a contractor for many of the works of the

Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company The Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company supplied drinking water to the towns of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, in the north east of England, from 1845 until 1974. It was initially called the Whittle Dean Water Company, but changed its name i ...

, and was joined in promoting the bridge by two directors of that company, Richard Snaderson and Christian Allhusen. They formed the Redheugh Bridge and Approaches Company in 1865, and obtained an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

to authorise the project in the following year. The Act included a clause to allow both the Water Company and the Newcastle and Gateshead Gas Company to hold up to £5,000 in shares, with the proviso that the dividend on these holdings would be one percent lower than that paid to other shareholders. Both companies were particularly interested in the bridge, since gas and water supplies between Newcastle and Gateshead were carried over the Tyne Bridge, which was about to be replaced by a swing bridge. The Tyne Commissioners had offered the Water Company £10,000 in compensation for the loss of this service, and the pipelines were carried across the river on a temporary bridge which also carried road traffic, while the swing bridge was under construction. The bridge was designed by

Thomas Bouch Sir Thomas Bouch (; 25 February 1822 – 30 October 1880) was a British railway engineer. He was born in Thursby, near Carlisle, Cumberland, and lived in Edinburgh. As manager of the Edinburgh and Northern Railway he introduced the first roll-o ...

(later Sir Thomas), who was also the designer of the first

Tay Bridge The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site. Plans for a bridge over the Tay ...

in Scotland, which failed catastrophically in December 1879, and of Hownes Gill Viaduct for the

Stanhope and Tyne Railway The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was an early British mineral railway, that ran from Stanhope in County Durham, to South Shields at the mouth of the River Tyne. The object was to convey limestone from Stanhope and coal from West Consett and elsew ...

, which still stands at

Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...

in County Durham, and is now used as a footpath and cycle route. Bouch's design for Redheugh consisted of a long truss, supported by three piers, one in the centre of the river and one at either side. The piers continued above the level of the truss, and were braced to it, while the truss connected to arched stone viaducts at either end. There were delays during the construction, caused by financial issues and the difficulties of getting materials to the site. It opened to pedestrians on 1 May 1871, and to all traffic in June. The road deck was above river level with a footpath at either side. The piers were spaced at intervals, and the total length of the truss was . Each pier had four legs, constructed from cast iron columns. These rested on a diameter caisson, which was sunk to a depth of below high water level. Diagonal bracing from the top of the lattice towers connected to the decking one-third of the way along each span. The design was probably unique, in that the upper beams of the trusses consisted of a tube, in diameter, which was used as a gas main by the Gas Company. The lower beams formed a trough, and the Water Company ran their mains through them. Once the bridge was completed, both companies were able to disconnect the mains that ran over the temporary timber bridge near the site of the swing bridge. A toll house was situated on the Newcastle side of the bridge, but revenue was less than expected, until development on the Gateshead side took place, and the income enabled healthy dividends to be paid. However, structural faults began to emerge as early as 1885, and inclined props were added to the piers to try to rectify the situation. As the faults got worse, investigation showed that repairs would cost more than a new bridge, and so it was replaced.

The second crossing

The second Redheugh Road Bridge (geograph 1870713)

Replacement commenced in 1897 with the new bridge being built by Sir William Arrol & Co. around the old structure. Once again the process was hindered by delays in materials and an inadequate workforce. By 1900 the main girders and spans were in place and, ingeniously,

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

jacks were used to inch along the newly built superstructure until it rested on the previously constructed piers. The remains of the old structure were removed and the bridge was opened in August 1901. However, by the 1960s serious design flaws once again became apparent. Speed restrictions of and weight restrictions of between 8 and 10 tonnes hindered the traffic flow and engineers stated that, if it remained in use for much longer, the approaches and superstructure would need to be rebuilt. It was seen as more economical to build a new crossing.

The present crossing

Work to replace the second crossing began in 1980. Of the original crossing, only the south

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

now remains (adorned by a modern sculpture designed by Richard Deacon). The third bridge is very different from its two predecessors. It is a pre-stressed concrete structure with a central span of , above the river, and two side spans of each (including the approaches, it is a total of long and wide). It can carry abnormal loads of up to 400 tonnes, and has a life expectancy of 120 years. It was constructed by Edmund Nuttall Ltd to a design by

Mott, Hay and Anderson Mott, Hay and Anderson (MHA) was a successful 20th century firm of consulting civil engineers based in the United Kingdom. The company traded until 1989, when it merged with Sir M MacDonald & Partners to form '' Mott MacDonald''. History Earl ...

's young engineer, Alan Yiu Lun Wan. The two supporting concrete piers were fluted to create an impression of lightness and were designed to withstand the impact from a vessel of ten thousand tonnes travelling at a speed of five knots, although this is highly unlikely as large ships rarely come this far up the Tyne and the shipping lane has now effectively been blocked by the

Gateshead Millennium Bridge The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead arts quarter on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne's Quayside area on the north bank. It was the first tilting bridge ever t ...

. Due to the exposed location, strong winds can cause problems for high-sided vehicles. Early in the bridge's life, a double-decker bus was nearly blown over the side. The bridge was opened on 18 May 1983 by the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was firs ...

The first crossing

The second crossing

The present crossing

Bibliography

References

External links

See also