High Level Bridge
A Class 156 DMU crossing the bridge, which is clad whilst being restored
Carries	Motor vehicle Motor vehicles
Crosses	River Tyne
Locale	Newcastle-Gateshead, England
Design	Girder bridge
Longest span	38. The British Rail Class 156 "Super- Sprinter " is a Diesel multiple unit (DMU The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South Tyne. NewcastleGateshead is a brand-name associated with the joint promotion of Culture, Business and Tourism within the Conurbation formed England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland 1 m
Total length	407. 8 m
Width	12. 2 m
Opening date	27 September 1849

The High Level Bridge behind which is the 1781 stone bridge, in a circa 1852 illustration taken from the Gateshead bank looking north east

The High Level Bridge and the 1781 stone bridge, in an 1861 illustration taken from the Gateshead bank looking north west

The High Level Bridge, towering above the Swing Bridge across the River Tyne; photograph facing Newcastle

Obverse of a medal struck in 1849 to celebrate the 7th June completion of the structure of the High Level Bridge

The High Level Bridge is a road and railway bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead in North East England. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. The Swing Bridge over the River Tyne connects Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne, between the Tyne Bridge and the High Level Bridge The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England A bridge is a Structure built to span a Gorge, Valley, Road, railroad track, River, Body of water The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. North-East England is one of the nine official Regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear ^[1]

Design

Designed by Robert Stephenson and built between 1847 and 1849, it is the first major example of a wrought iron tied arch or bow-string girder bridge. Robert Stephenson FRS (16 October 1803 &ndash 12 October 1859 was an English Civil engineer. Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. It is a fine and long standing engineering solution to a difficult problem; the spanning of 1337 feet of river valley, including 512 feet across water. The High Level Bridge has six river spans of 125 feet (38 m) length, sitting on masonry piers, 46 by 16 feet in section and up to 131 feet (40 m) height. There are also four land spans on each side, of 36 feet 3 inches. The single carriageway road and pedestrian walkways occupy the lower deck of the spans, 85 feet above the high water mark, and the railway the upper deck 112 above the high water mark. The total weight of the structure is 5,000 tons. ^[2][3]

According to a contemporary encyclopedia:^[4]

Each river span is crossed by four main cast iron arched ribs, with horizontal tie bars. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. A tie bar (also tie slide, tie clip, or tie clasp) is a neckwear accessory that clips a tie to the fold of a Shirt, preventing The roadway is situated between a pair of ribs some 20 feet apart; and walkways are sited on either side of the roadway in a 6 foot gap between the central and outside ribs. The upper, railway, platform, rests on the arches of the ribs, whilst the lower roadway is suspended from the ribs on wrought iron rods. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. Each arched rib was cast in five sections. Besides the tie-bars, the ribs are braced by horizontal and vertical bracing frames, while diagonal bracings are inserted in the spandrels, or spaces between the arches and the girders which carry the railway. A spandrel (less often spandril or splaundrel) is the space between two Arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure On the tops of the spandrel pillars, girders extend length-wise, from which other stretch at right-angles across the arched ribs. The whole thus has a perfectly rigid character and is found to bear the heaviest weights without deflection.

History

The bridge was built for the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, and together with Stephenson's Royal Border Bridge at Berwick upon Tweed, completed the line of a London-Edinburgh railway nowadays known as the East Coast Main Line. Royal Border Bridge spans the River Tweed between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Tweedmouth in Northumberland, England at. Berwick-upon-Tweed ( ˈbɛrɪk- ( Scots: Berwick or historically South Berwick) situated in the county of Northumberland, is the northernmost The East Coast Main Line ( ECML) is the electrified high-speed railway link between London and Edinburgh connecting Yorkshire, North East The bridge was opened to rail traffic, without ceremony, on 15 August 1849. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common It was officially opened on 27 September 1849 by Queen Victoria; and brought into ordinary use on 4 February 1850. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link ^[5].

The total cost of the bridge was £491,153, broken down as follows: The bridge proper cost £243,096, including £112,000 for the metal work, which was produced by Messers Hawks, Crawshay & Co (and subcontractors). The approaches to the bridge cost £113,057, and land and compensation - including to the 650 Newcastle and 130 Gateshead families who were relocated to enable its construction - £135,000. ^[5]

It is worth remarking that there were competing plans - not taken forwards - for a low level bridge; in 1836 Richard Grainger with engineer Thomas Sopwith proposed a crossing 20 feet above highwater mark, running the Newcastle & Carlisle, Great North of England and Brandling Junction railways into a low level terminus. Richard Grainger (1797-1861 was a builder in Newcastle upon Tyne. Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS ( January 18 1888 &ndash January 27 1989) was an English Under their plans, the Scotland railway would follow contour lines to the east and north, whilst the Carlisle line would be taken up inclined planes. ^[6]

Stephenson's High Level Bridge was designed after, but completed before his more famous and equally innovative Britannia Bridge (constructed 1846-50) over the Menai Strait; it can be seen as a second and more elegant version of the Britannia Bridge, and was to influence Isambard Kingdom Brunel in his design of the Royal Albert Bridge (1855; constructed 1859) across the River Tamar at Saltash. Britannia Bridge ( Welsh: Pont Britannia) is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland The Menai Strait ( Afon Menai, the "River Menai" is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about 14 miles (23 km long which separates the island of Anglesey Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 &ndash 15 September 1859 (ˈɪzəmbɑrd ˈkɪŋdəm brʊˈnɛl was a British Engineer. The Royal Albert Bridge (sometimes called the Brunel Bridge or Saltash Bridge) spans the River Tamar in the United Kingdom between The Tamar is a River in south western England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east and Cornwall (to the west Saltash (Essa is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. ^[2]

The High Level Bridge began to vibrate like a piece of thin wire^[7], but provided an excellent vantage point for the Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead in 1854. The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead was a tragic and spectacular series of events starting on Friday 6 October 1854, in which a substantial amount of property Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year

In 1906, construction of the King Edward VII Bridge, some 500 yards to the west of the High Level Bridge, was completed. Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The King Edward VII Bridge is a railway bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, in North East England. This second bridge addressed the central operational weakness of the single bridge, which was that trains entering the station from the south had to be reversed back across the bridge when returning in that direction. It also meant that locomotives had to switch ends before a train could head north towards Edinburgh.

Since the newer bridge opened, the High Level no longer forms part of the East Coast Main Line. The East Coast Main Line ( ECML) is the electrified high-speed railway link between London and Edinburgh connecting Yorkshire, North East Instead, it provides a route for trains going towards Sunderland, Middlesbrough and, formerly, the Leamside Line. History The line opened in 1839 and was formed from the original lines of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway and the Durham Junction Railway It is also occasionally used for London trains wanting to turn around as the two bridges are linked on the Gateshead side to form a loop. For this reason, the western track across the bridge is electrified.

Antecedents

One of the first to suggest the idea of a high level bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead was Edward Hutchinson, a Newcastle master-mason, who, when the old Tyne Bridge was swept away in 1771, brought a prospectus and plan before the Newcastle Corporation; but the plan was premature and nothing was done. In 1833 a plan was presented for an elevated suspension bridge, by B. R. Dodd, a Newcastle civil engineer, at an estimated cost of £77,000; but this project was also abandoned. About the year 1839 Messers John and Benjamin Green published a scheme for a high level bridge. Although a committee of the Newcastle Corporation reported in favour of the plan, it likewise was abandoned.

Another plan for a high level bridge was that of Richard Grainger, who proposed to erect a superstructure on the Tyne Bridge, consisting of a viaduct for passengers and other traffic, supported on metal tubes resting upon piers of the bridge. Richard Grainger (1797-1861 was a builder in Newcastle upon Tyne. Grainger's proposals, which, like others, left the railway connection severed, did not meet with much favour.

The most important proposal of all was that of John Dobson, the architect of many of Newcastle's finer buildings. John Dobson may refer to John Dobson (astronomer, astronomer John Dobson (architect, British architect John Dobson His plan provided a road for horse carriages and foot passengers in addition to two lines of railway, and included the formation of a grand central railway station in Neville Street. ^[8]

Restoration

To ensure its long-term future the bridge was closed to road traffic in February 2005. February 2005: ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August Essential maintenance included replacement of wooden supports beneath the road deck. Although originally expected to reopen in late-2005 the bridge remained closed until 2 June 2008 as severe cracks were found in some of the bridge's iron girders. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A girder is a support beam used in Construction. Girders often have an I beam cross section for strength but may also have a box shape Z shape In March 2006 the bridge's footpath, which was to have been kept open during the restoration project, was closed at the request of Network Rail due to vandalism and the increasing scale of required works. Stories without links will be removed. News stories must be in English ^[9] Extra crash barriers on each side of the roadway were added leaving space for only one lane of traffic. The bridge now operates only in a southbound (towards Gateshead) direction^[10] and carries only bus, taxi and north- and southbound pedestrian traffic.

The bridge reopened to restricted traffic on 2 June 2008 ^[11].

References

External links

• High Level: 150 years at Newcastle
• Newcastle High Level Bridge in the Structurae database
• Tyne Bridges
• Map sources for High Level Bridge