Tees Bridge
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Surtees Rail Bridge is a rail bridge on the Tees Valley Line over the
River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. The bridge is south of
Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
town centre and just north of the adjacent
Surtees Bridge The Surtees Bridge is a road bridge carrying the A66(T) road east west across the River Tees near Thornaby-on-Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in the north east of England. The bridge is situated one kilometre upriver from Stockton tow ...
which carries the A66 road. The bridge is built on the site of a series of Tees Bridges alternating between two adjacent crossing sites.


Previous rail bridges in Stockton-on-Tees

Since 1830 there have been a series of railway bridges over the River Tees at this point. To ensure continuity of service, replacement bridges have been constructed adjacent to the current operational bridge.


The 1830 Stockton Railway Bridge

The 1830 bridge was an iron chain suspension bridge built principally to carry coal on the
Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...
to Port Darlington, later to be renamed
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 ...
, and was to be the first suspension bridge built for railway traffic. ;Design The designer was Sir
Samuel Brown Samuel Brown may refer to: * Samuel Brown (Royal Navy officer) (1776–1852), English pioneer suspension bridge engineer and inventor * Samuel Brown (engineer) (died 1849), English inventor of early internal combustion engine * Samuel Brown (Wisco ...
, a retired naval officer with experience building the 1820 Union Bridge over the
River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...
between Scotland and England, and the
Royal Suspension Chain Pier The Royal Suspension Chain Pier was the first major pier built in Brighton, England. Opened on 25 November 1823, it was destroyed during a storm on 4 December 1896. History Generally known as the ''Chain Pier'', it was designed by Captain S ...
, Brighton (1823). Stockton Railway Bridge was long with a main span of . The wide unstiffened bridge deck was suspended using of round eye bar link chain supported by two masonry towers, giving of clearance (heading) on the river below the deck and there were lattice timber parapets on either side of the deck. The whole structure cost £2,300 and weighed only 113 tonnes—less than the loads it was expected to carry. ;Construction Work was started on the bridge in 1829 and it was opened on 27 December 1830. ;Trials and operation When the first trial steam engine and train of loaded coal wagons crossed the bridge on 27 December 1830, the bridge flexed so much that the unstiffened bridge deck rose like a static wave in front of the engine. One particular trial load was enough to damage the towers with one tower on the Yorkshire side cracking. The bridge was propped mid span using
trestles ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Labora ...
and traffic was restricted to four wagons at a time, spaced apart by chains to spread the load. The trials had shown that this type of suspension bridge was unsuitable for railway traffic and to this day there are no rail suspension bridges in the UK. Suspension bridges were not used successfully for railways until the building of the 1855
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge stood from 1855 to 1897 across the Niagara River and was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls, where it connected Niagara Falls, Ontario to N ...
in the USA incorporating both road and rail decks. The foundations and submerged remains of the wooden
trestles ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Labora ...
of the 1830 bridge were found during work for the construction of the 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge.


The 1844 Stockton Railway Bridge

The 1830 bridge needed a replacement. With site investigations in 1841 by John Harris, Robert Stephenson designed a five span cast iron trussed girder bridge on piled masonry piers. This was built over the period 1841–1844 by contractor Grahamsley and Read and when it opened in May 1844 it replaced the suspension bridge. The bridge was similar in design to Stephenson's 1846 bridge over the River Dee in Chester that had collapsed in the year following its completion. To ensure the same thing didn't happen at Stockton bridge, props were added and the bridge carried rail traffic until succeeded by the 1881 wrought iron bridge.


The 1881 bridge

In 1881 a wrought iron bridge was constructed with five spans of plate girders supported on concrete-filled iron cylinders. When the bridge was superseded by the 1906 bridge the tracks were removed. In 2008-2009 the 1881 bridge was dismantled and removed by Carillion Civil Engineering to make way for the 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge.


The 1906 Tees Bridge

In 1906 a new superstructure was built on the original masonry piers of the 1844 Stephenson bridge using steel plate girders instead of the previous cast iron girders and brought back into use. The downstream 1881 wrought iron bridge was closed and the tracks removed. Due to settlement of the embankment and bridge distress there was a speed restriction imposed on the 1906 bridge. Although no longer carrying rail traffic, the bridge continues to carry rail signalling cables across the River Tees.


The 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge

In 2008-2009 the 1881 bridge was demolished to build a three span steel and concrete railway bridge. The new bridge was designed by HBPW Structural and Civil Engineering Services and built by Carillion Civil Engineering and
Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
. The bridge's piers were designed to align with the middle three piers of the existing 1906 Tees Bridge to allow for the easy passage of river traffic. The 2009 bridge scheme received a commendation in the Institution of Civil Engineers' Robert Stephenson Awards 2010.


References


External links

* Participants
Carillion PLCHBPW Structural and Civil Engineering ServicesNetwork Rail


a
Bridges on the Tyne

Structurae
{{navboxes , list1= {{Geographic location , Northwest = , North =
Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
town centre , Northeast =
Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to: Bridges ;Australia * Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane * Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania * Victoria Bridge, M ...
, West = , Centre = Tees Bridge
over the
River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
, East = , Southwest = , South =
Surtees Bridge The Surtees Bridge is a road bridge carrying the A66(T) road east west across the River Tees near Thornaby-on-Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in the north east of England. The bridge is situated one kilometre upriver from Stockton tow ...
, Southeast =
Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and 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 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...
{{Crossings navbox , structure =
Crossings Crossings may refer to: * ''Crossings'' (Buffy novel), a 2002 original novel based on the U.S. television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' * Crossings (game), a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Robert Abbott * ''Crossings'' ...
, place =
River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
, bridge = Surtees Rail Bridge
The lowest railway bridge point , upstream =
Surtees Bridge The Surtees Bridge is a road bridge carrying the A66(T) road east west across the River Tees near Thornaby-on-Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in the north east of England. The bridge is situated one kilometre upriver from Stockton tow ...

next railway bridge
Gainford Railway Bridge Gainford may refer to: *Gainford, Alberta, Canada *Gainford, County Durham, England See also *Gainford Hall *Baron Gainford Baron Gainford, of Headlam in the County Palatine of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was crea ...
, downstream =
Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to: Bridges ;Australia * Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane * Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania * Victoria Bridge, M ...
{{stockton Crossings of the River Tees Bridges completed in 1830 Bridges completed in 1844 Bridges completed in 1881 Bridges completed in 1906 Bridges completed in 2009 Bridges in County Durham Bridges in North Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Stockton-on-Tees 1830 establishments in England