Newcastle Swing Bridge
N 54° 58.039 W 001° 36.449
30U E 589146 N 6092041
The Swing Bridge is a swing bridge over the River Tyne, England connecting Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead,
Waymark Code: WMHPMW
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/31/2013
Views: 18
The hydraulic power still used to move the bridge is today derived from electrically driven pumps. These feed a hydraulic accumulator sunk into a 60 feet (18 m) shaft below the bridge; the water is then released under pressure which runs the machinery to turn the bridge. The mechanism used for this is still the same machinery originally installed by Armstrong.
It has an 281 feet (85.6 m) cantilevered span with a central axis of rotation able to move through 360° to allow vessels to pass on either side of it.
The previous bridge on the site was demolished in 1868 to enable larger ships to move upstream to William Armstrong's works. The hydraulic Swing Bridge was designed and paid for by Armstrong, with work beginning in 1873. It was first used for road traffic on 15 June 1876 and opened for river traffic on 17 July 1876.
Bridge Type: Swing Bridge
Built: 06/15/1876
Span: 86 metres
Pedestrian Traffic: yes
Bicycle Traffic: yes
Vehicular Traffic: yes
Railway Traffic: no
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the bridge and record the exact coordinates where the picture was taken.