Bridging water of time

Jul 5 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

THE ceremonial bamboo bridge on the River Tyne opens in two weeks’ time. But its more famous neighbour, the Tyne Bridge, took rather longer to erect, with men risking their lives 100ft above the water for three years.

Construction started in August 1925 and, remarkably, as builders worked without harnesses, only one died.

It was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, the bridge’s purpose being to take traffic away from the Quayside and Grey Street. Several buildings had to be demolished to make room for the bridge. They included the Goat Inn, the Earl of Durham, the Ridley Arms, the Steamboat Inn, Ray’s lodging house, a powder mill, a pickle factory and a bank.

The bridge was opened on October 10, 1928, by King George V. It was immediately celebrated as one of the great engineering achievements of the age.

The towers were built of Cornish granite and designed as five-storey warehouses. Passenger and goods lifts were built in the towers to provide access to the Quayside and they are still in use today.

The bridge cost £1.2m. Its arch weighs 3,556 tonnes, it has a 531ft span and the road deck is 84 feet above the water.