Neptune and Swing Bridge, Newcastle. Photo A Curtis (2014).
Newcastle's Swing Bridge, thought to have been the fourth bridge that crossed the River Tyne at low level on the site, was designed by Lord Armstrong and the Tyne Improvement Commission. It was built at Armstrong's Elswick works between 1868-76 at a cost of £222,000. At the time of its opening it was the largest such bridge in the world. It was a necessary development to allow for upriver navigation by sea-going vessels but required the removal of the current nine-arched stone bridge built in 1781.
The bridge mechanism is still driven by the original Armstrong hydraulic engines, although the steam pumps were replaced by small electric pumps in 1959. The pumps force water into the chambers of hydraulic accumulators, sunk down into the bed of the river. When the motors cut out, 60-ton weights above the chambers force water out under pressure which run the machinery to turn the bridge. The bridge now opens only very rarely and is controlled from the cupola above the superstructure.
The bridge mechanism is still driven by the original Armstrong hydraulic engines, although the steam pumps were replaced by small electric pumps in 1959. The pumps force water into the chambers of hydraulic accumulators, sunk down into the bed of the river. When the motors cut out, 60-ton weights above the chambers force water out under pressure which run the machinery to turn the bridge. The bridge now opens only very rarely and is controlled from the cupola above the superstructure.
Tyne Improvement Commission coat of arms, Swing Bridge Newcastle abutment. Photo A Curtis (2013).
Illustrations (below) are taken from The River Tyne: Its History and Resources by James Guthrie (Secretary to the River Tyne Commission). Pub. Andrew Reid, Newcastle upon Tyne (1880).
The book is the story of how Tyne Commissioners:
The book is the story of how Tyne Commissioners:
... raised the Tyne from being a shallow stream, dangerous and intricate of navigation to vessels of modern days, into a stately and deep river, capable of accommodating the largest vessels afloat almost at all times of tide - a river, with its deep-water dock and other appliances, scarcely, if at all, surpassed by any of the great ports of the nation for carrying on a vast and expanding commerce.
The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette recorded the opening of the bridge to the public on Tuesday 13 June 1876. The official inaugural ceremony had to be postponed until a portion of the temporary bridge alongside had been fully removed and the Swing Bridge put into full operation.
As the largest work of its kind in England, the following measurements of the bridge may not be uninteresting :—The total length between the abutments is 530ft.; the width of roadway 22ft, and of the footpath 8 and 9ft. The six spans of the bridge are divided as follows : Two are in the centre to open by the swing, each giving 103ft. clear waterway; that on the north side is 99ft. span over the river, and that on the south 71ft. Another span on the Newcastle side for the quay extension is 30ft clear of the roadway, and the south, for the proposed Gateshead quay, 21ft 6in. clear roadway. The total length of the swing span is 278ft. 6in, and its weight 1,500 tons. There is a clear headway, above high water mark, under the swing at the highest point, of 16ft 10in. The elevation of the valve house platform above the roadway is 28ft, and to the top of the lantern exactly 49ft.The greatest depth of the main girders’ swing span is 25ft., of the fixed river spans 10ft., and there is a clear headway under the valve platform arch of 24ft. The swing bridge rests on 42 rollers, each 3ft. in diameter and 10in, wide. These travel on a "racer" or roller path 43ft. in diameter. To move this mighty structure only one hydraulic engine of 60 horse-power is required, the steam engine for pumping purposes possessing a third of that power. Both engines are laid down as well as the boilers, in duplicate, so that should an accident happen no delay in the traffic need take place. The roadway is laid with wood paving, and the sidewalks with green oak slip-pavement, excepting those portions on Gateshead Quay and Newcastle Quay sides.
Sheffield Independent, Tuesday 18 July 1876.
Swing Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne. Photo A Curtis (2011).
Armstrong's steam pumping engine from Swing Bridge. Newcastle Discovery Museum. Photo by A Curtis (2014).
Links
Structural Images of the North East - Swing Bridge
Bridges on the Tyne - Swing Bridge
Tyne & Wear Museums - Swing Bridge Fact File
Port of Tyne - visit to Swing Bridge
Structural Images of the North East - Swing Bridge
Bridges on the Tyne - Swing Bridge
Tyne & Wear Museums - Swing Bridge Fact File
Port of Tyne - visit to Swing Bridge
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