Wearmouth Bridge - Sunderland, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 54° 54.589 W 001° 22.975
30U E 603669 N 6085953
Wearmouth Bridge is a through arch bridge across the River Wear in Sunderland, England. It is the final bridge over the river before its mouth with the North Sea.
Waymark Code: WM19CB4
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/23/2024
Views: 0
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Original bridge
Main article: Wearmouth Bridge (1796)
The original Wearmouth Bridge was designed by Thomas Paine and opened in 1796. In 1805 the bridge was repaired, and between 1857 and 1859 it was reconstructed by Robert Stephenson.
History
To accommodate the growing volume of traffic, construction began on the current bridge in 1927. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and fabricated by the famous bridge building firm of Sir William Arrol & Co. at their Dalmarnock Ironworks in Glasgow (they also built the famous Forth Rail Bridge and the steel structure of Tower Bridge in London). The new bridge was built around the old one to allow the road to remain open. It was opened on 31 October 1929 by the Duke of York (who would later become King George VI).
The cost of the bridge amounted to £231,943 of which £12,000 was spent on dismantling the old bridge.
The adjoining Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge was built in 1879, and extended the railway south from Monkwearmouth to the centre of Sunderland.
The bridge carries the A183 road between Chester-le-Street and South Shields and the A1018 which was the old route of the A19 until the bypass was built leading to the Tyne Tunnel. It is a Grade II listed building."
link
In the middle of the bridge a representation of the unofficial coat of arms of Sunderland of the time is included in the superstructure of the bridge. The motto is
Nil desperandum Auspice Deo ("When God is on our side there is no cause for despair." or "Do not despair, have faith in God" or "Don’t despair, in God we trust") as a motto since 1849. It is taken from the Odes of Horace, Book 1, Ode 7, line 27.
A blue plaque at the end of the bridge has the following information.
City of Sunderland
WEARMOUTH BRIDGE
The first Wearmouth Bridge
of 1796 proved to be a catalyst
for the growth of Sunderland.
It was rebuilt in 1857 by
Robert Stephenson.
and again in 1927 when
this steel arch bridge
was constructed.
1996 - Bicentenary of the iron bridge