A £5m fundraising campaign has been launched to restore the Grade II listed River Tyne swing bridge in Newcastle, which has been unable to open since 2019.
Fundraising Campaign For Historical Tyne Swing Bridge
A campaign has been launched to restore the Grade II listed River Tyne swing bridge in Newcastle, which has been unable to open since 2019. New Civil Engineer reports that when fully operational, the 171m long bridge can swing open 90° to allow for the passing of vessels.
A local MP has now launched a £5m fundraising campaign to restore the bridge to its former glory. The MP for Newcastle Central Chi Onwurah said: “The bridge is an icon of our industrial history but it is also part of our future. Engineers face a number of challenges and the swing bridge can inspire the next generation […]”
“It is part of a broader engineering challenge as I think we should be doing more to preserve our engineering heritage.”
She added: “We are talking millions [to make the bridge operational], probably more than but not much more than £5M. It turns out that when you begin to look into the bridge there are issues with the wooden staves.”
“The bridge used one of the first forms of rubber [within its mechanics] and it was very new at the time but replacing those parts is very expensive. It is a question of how many parts we have to reproduce or whether we can do any contemporary engineering which fits into the design.”
The bridge was designed by the local industrialist and engineer William Armstrong and was constructed in 1876. It has come to be a landmark of Tyneside with its distinctive red and white paint and elegant design. A previous attempt to restore it to full working condition failed in the summer of 2021.
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