£5.2m upgrade complete for Tyneside’s ‘world-first’ railway bridge

Thursday 25 Jul 2024

£5.2m upgrade complete for Tyneside’s ‘world-first’ railway bridge

Region & Route:: Eastern; | Eastern: East Coast

A year-long project to strengthen the iconic High Level Bridge which provides a vital road and railway link over the River Tyne is now complete.

Network Rail has invested £5.2m to overhaul the underside of the Victorian-built structure which connects Gateshead and Newcastle.

Designed by railway pioneer Robert Stephenson, when complete in 1849 it was the first double-decker road and railway bridge in the world.

Today (Thursday 25 July) High Level Bridge has reopened as normal for pedestrians and road users after essential repainting and strengthening work beneath them.

The 175-year-old bridge needs regular maintenance, and this latest overhaul by Network Rail and contractor AmcoGiffen has seen:

Grit blasting and repainting of the structural beams holding up the road and pedestrian decks to stop them from being weakened from corrosion
Structural repairs to wrought ironwork across the bridge at road and pedestrian level
Waterproofing the road deck and improving the drainage channels on the road to protect the newly refurbished structural beams below
Resurfacing the carriageway for a smoother ride for cyclists and road traffic

In numbers the project saw:

3,300 litres of paint used (primer, mid coat and top coat combined)
283 structural beams painted across the bridge’s six spans
2.6km of road drainage repaired, waterproofed and re-surfaced
460 tonnes of scaffolding installed to make the temporary deck to paint the underside of the road deck

Much of the work happened at night to minimise disruption to road users.

Train journeys have been unaffected with all services running on the top bridge deck as normal throughout the project.

As a Grade I listed structure, a complex scaffolding system had to be hung from the bridge without it interfering with the original ironwork.

Sean Ellerby, Network Rail scheme project manager, said: “While much of the work has been happening out of sight beneath the road and walkways, it’s been a huge job to secure the future of this world-first bridge and important link for rail and road between Gateshead and Newcastle.

“I’d like to thank residents’ patience while much of our work had to take place at night, and also road users and pedestrians who’ve been impacted by the scaffolding as we’ve worked around the clock to keep High Level Bridge fit for the future and safe for trains, traffic and pedestrians.”

Chris Pennock, AmcoGiffen framework director, said: “We’re pleased to complete the extensive repairs and improvements safely and successfully at High Level Bridge on behalf of Network Rail. This significant investment has revitalised the 175-year-old landmark and will preserve its structural integrity and historical significance for years to come.”

Throughout the project Network Rail has worked closely with Gateshead Council, which is responsible for maintaining the pedestrian walkways and carriageway, and organising the road closures needed for work to take place.

Councillor John McElroy, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Gateshead Council, said: “The High Level Bridge is an important part of the local travel network, particularly for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users. As we want to make these forms of travel as safe, easy and attractive as possible for our communities, it’s great news that the upgrade is complete.

“Its historical significance to the region makes it even more important that we continue to look after the bridge and ensure it remains fit for purpose for generations to come.”

For more information on the history of High Level Bridge you can visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/our-history/iconic-infrastructure/the-history-of-the-high-level-bridge-newcastle/

Notes to Editors

Alongside being a world-first bridge, the historic structure is also:

The first to span the Tyne from the top of one bank to the other, so became the ‘High Level’ as all earlier bridges made the crossing at low level.

The oldest of the seven historic bridges which cross the Tyne

Historical timeline of the High Level Bridge

The Newcastle & Berwick Railway secured the Act to build its line in 1845. It stipulated that the company should construct a combined road and rail bridge across the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead, to be completed within four years.

The bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson and detailed drawings were made under the supervision of Thomas E Harrison. To avoid excessive width, and thereby expense, it was decided to carry the railway above, rather than beside, the roadway. The roadway itself was designed to be 20ft (6m) wide with a 61/2ft (2m) footway on either side. The combined width allowed three standard gauge tracks to run across the top rail level of the bridge. The overall length of the bridge was to be 1338ft (408m).

Construction and use

The bridge was a tied arch (or bow-string) bridge with the main structural elements made of either cast or wrought iron. It had in total six spans each 125ft (38m) in length, the cast iron bows supporting the railway while wrought iron ties supported the road deck below. To enable a level line for the railway across the deep and wide Tyne valley, the roadway was built at 96ft (29m) and the railway 120ft (37m) above high water on the river. Contracts for the production of the ironwork were let to local firm Hawkes, Crawshay & Co of Newcastle.

The bridge sits on five masonry piers, 50ft (15m) thick and 16ft (5m) wide. Although the River Tyne at the point the bridge is constructed was no more than 3ft (1m) deep at low water, its bed consisted of some 30ft (9m) of silt before underlying bedrock could be reached.

A recent invention, the ‘Nasmyth Steam Pile Driver’, was used for the first time in bridge building, enabling the piles for the bridge foundations to be driven down to the bedrock quickly and efficiently. Rush & Lawton of York were contracted to build the five main masonry piers and the land arches on each side carrying the approaches; 50,000 tons of stone was quarried near Newcastle, mainly at Heddon on the Wall.

To assist in the construction work a wooden viaduct was built immediately to the east of the permanent one. This temporary structure was opened to railway traffic on 29 August 1848, just a year before the High Level Bridge itself was opened by Queen Victoria on 28 September 1849. The public roadway over the bridge was not completed and opened until some six months later.

In 1906 King Edward VII opened the King Edward railway bridge nearby, which provided a shorter route into Newcastle station. Today the High Level Bridge is used as a turning loop on the East Coast Mainline.

Conservation awards

Between 2001 and 2008 we undertook an extensive refurbishment project of the bridge which strengthened the structure as well as restoring some if its original features. For its research into the use of cast iron as well as the conservation techniques it employed, the project received prestigious awards, including the 2009 Grand Prize for Conservation from Europa Nostra.

Contact information

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About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.