The Princess of Wales Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Diana Bridge or the Princess Diana Bridge, is a dual carriageway road bridge named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It carries Council of Europe Boulevard across the River Tees, Northern England. Teesdale Business Park in

Thornaby Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...

is to the south and to the north is the north east of Stockton town centre (at the north end of Riverside Road at a gyratory system). It is in the

borough of Stockton-on-Tees The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority with borough status in the counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. The borough had a population of 191,600 in 2011. The main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stock ...

Design

The bridge is of a slab and girder design with concrete piers and steel plate girder decking. The bridge has three spans – the centre span is 40 metres with two side spans of 30 metres each. The bridge has four steel plate girders with composite concrete decking and the abutments and piers are supported on steel H piles driven to sandstone bedrock.

Construction

The bridge was commissioned by the

Teesside Development Corporation The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former county of Cleveland in North East England. The Teesside Development Corpor ...

and built at a cost of £3 million by

Tarmac Group Tarmac Group Limited was a British building materials company headquartered in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It produced road surfacing and heavy building materials including aggregates, concrete, cement and lime, as well as operating as ...

Operation

The bridge was inaugurated on 23 September 1992 by Diana, Princess of Wales. On rare occasions the bridge is closed for fireworks events. After the death of Diana, Princess of Wales the bridge was fitted with two memorial plaques.

Local facilities

Just downriver of the bridge is the River Tees Watersports Centre hosting watersports such as

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

, canoeing,

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

jet skiing A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...

and

dragon boat racing A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

Image gallery

References

External links

Princess of Wales Bridge
o
Bridges on the Tyne
website * * Th
River Tees Watersports Centre
{{Navboxes , list1= {{Geographic location , Northwest = , North = , Northeast =

Portrack Portrack is an east Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton area in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It is close to Billingham opposite Thornaby and just west of Middlesbrough. The area is a large industrial and business part of Stock ...

, West = , Centre = Princess of Wales Bridge
over the '' River Tees'' , East =

Tees Barrage The Tees Barrage is a barrage and road bridge across the River Tees, Northern England, just upriver of Blue House Point and is used to control the flow of the river, preventing flooding and the effects of tidal change. It is between the t ...

, Southwest = Stockton on Tees town centre , South = Teesdale Business Park , Southeast = {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place = River Tees , bridge = Princess of Wales Bridge , upstream =

Teesquay Millennium Footbridge Teesquay Millennium Footbridge is a footbridge crossing east-west over the River Tees between Stockton high street and Thornaby ( Teesdale Business Park) in Northern England. It is just east of Stockton town centre and in the town's namesake ...

next road crossing Victoria Bridge , downstream =

Infinity Bridge The Infinity Bridge is a public pedestrian and cycle footbridge across the River Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in northern England. The bridge is situated one kilometre downriver of Stockton town centre, between the Princess of Wales ...

next road crossing

(dead end) {{Stockton {{Diana, Princess of Wales Crossings of the River Tees Bridges completed in 1992 Bridges in County Durham Bridges in North Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Stockton-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees