Tees Newport Bridge, Middlesbrough. UK
N 54° 34.308 W 001° 15.670
30U E 612406 N 6048533
The Tees Vertical Lift Bridge is a massive steel structure which opened in February 1934, and was the first to be built in the UK and the heaviest of its kind in the world.
Waymark Code: WMT35P
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/17/2016
Views: 3
"The Tees Newport Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge spanning the River Tees a short distance upriver from Tees Transporter Bridge, linking Middlesbrough with the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, in the north east of England.
Designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and built by local company Dorman Long, who have also been responsible for such structures as the Tyne Bridge and Sydney Harbour Bridge, it was the first large vertical-lift bridge in Britain.
The bridge was inaugurated by the then Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI) and opened to traffic on 28 February 1934.
Constructed around twin 55 m (180 ft) lifting towers, the 82 m (269 ft) bridge span, weighing 2,700 tonnes, could be lifted by the use of two 325 H.P. electric motors at 16 m (52 ft) per minute to a maximum height of 37 m (121 ft). In the event of motor failure a standby 450 H.P. petrol engine could be employed to move the bridge, but should both systems fail it was possible to raise or lower the span manually using a winch mechanism. It was estimated in 1963 by Mr R. Batty, long time Bridge Master at Newport Bridge, that "it would take 12 men eight hours" to complete the movement by hand.
Originally, 12 men would have been employed to man the bridge around the clock, usually requiring four to drive it at any one time. This was accomplished from the oak-panelled winding house situated midway along the bridge span. During the 1940s and early 1950s this would occur up to twice a day with an average of 800 vessels per year passing under it, but in the 1940s it was hard because of the war however, as the number of ships needing to sail up to Stockton-on-Tees declined, so did the usage of the bridge."
Source: Wikipedia. (
visit link)