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Description: | Swing bridge immediately after opening, 5.15pm, 3rd June, 1924. The Georgian Tyne bridge was demolished and the Swing Bridge was built on the site to provide access for larger shipping travelling up river. The bridge pivots on a central pier in the river, and when opened swings through 90 degrees. The road deck is flanked by low steel arches, and is capped by a central control room. The bridge is 281 feet (85.6 m) long and weighs 1,450 tons. It was built by W G Armstrong & Company at a cost of £222,000. It is driven by the original Armstrong hydraulic engines although the original steam pumps were replaced by electric pumps in 1959. The Swing bridge was opened to traffic in 1876 and at the time, was the largest swing bridge in the world. It’s introduction, coupled with improved dredging of the river and the consequent removal of the island known as King’s Meadow, led to increased development of the shipbuilding industry in the Elswick and Scotswood areas on the north bank of the Tyne and Dunston and Blaydon in the south. In its heyday, it could open over 30 times a day. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.asaplive.com/Lco/Lco.cfm?ccs=629&cs=2674&Preview=1 | Publisher: | Gateshead Council | Rights holder: | Gateshead Council | Subjects: | Horse-drawn Cars Bridges | Temporal: | name=1920s; start=1920; end=1929; | Source: | iSee Gateshead | Creator: | Unknown | Identifier: | http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/detail.php?... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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