Newport Bridge (Sunrise) - Middlesbrough - December 2010

Derelict Places

Help Support Derelict Places:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Horus

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
65
Reaction score
199
Location
Middlesbrough
Newport Bridge (Sunrise) - Middlesbrough - December 2010

Newpoort Bridge

I know this has been done alot, but have'nt seen it done at Sunrise, iv been meaning to do this for sometime now but everytime i get up on weekend the weather has been against me, untill now

Opened to traffic on 28 February 1934 by the Duke of York, the Tees Newport Bridge spans the River Tees a short distance upriver from Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge, linking Middlesbrough with the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, 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 opened by the Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI).

Constructed around twin 182ft (55m) lifting towers, the 270ft (82m) bridge span, weighing 2,700 tonnes, could be lifted by the use of two 325 H.P. electric motors at 52ft per minute to a maximum height of 120ft (37m). 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 week passing under it,[3] however, as the number of ships needing to sail up to Stockton-on-Tees declined, so did the usage of the bridge.
Newport Bridge, Middlesbrough
With the central span raised to allow the fire boat through

Legal requirement to lift the bridge for shipping traffic was removed in 1989 after the repeal of a parliamentary act. Before mechanical decommissioning Mr Ian MacDonald who worked on the bridge from 1966, finally as Bridge Master, supervised the final lift on the 18th November 1990.

recovered047.jpg


phpe14QAP.jpg


NewportBridgeMiddlesbrough.jpg


1.
IMG_0018-2.jpg

2.
IMG_0001-2.jpg

3.
IMG_0004-1.jpg

4.
IMG_0006-1.jpg

5.
IMG_0009-2.jpg

6.
IMG_0012-1.jpg

7.
IMG_0014-2.jpg

8.
What we call the DooM Ladder.
IMG_0015-2.jpg


Unfortually i could'nt take any internal shots as this was a race against time, i did'nt fancy being met by the local police and spending Saterday in a cell

Hope you enjoyed
 
great pics again HORUS (lol...got it right this time)
Until i got to the last one and it made me feel ill....dont do heights :(
 
Worked on the Bridge in the 70's

Hello,

Thanks for these images (and to the earlier poster in 08). I worked as a young apprentice on this bridge in the 1970's when it was being rewired. So I have been to the top of the towers (absolutely stunning views ... but freezing in winter!) and also spent several days in the winding house. The electrics there were 500V DC and the switching panel was old style "Dr Frankenstein" knife blade switches. So basically live 500V DC conductors exposed! Health & Safety inspectors would just love it :)

Even back in the 70's it was not used much. It had to be maintained due to admiralty regulations and cost the local council quite a considerable amount of money and resources. There was a permanent crew there plus contractors when required.

As a piece of engineering, it is stunning! Massively efficient in its ability to lift 2700 tons of bridge.

Real shame it is not still lifting, but one can understand why.

Also I worked on the Transporter Bridge nearby. The main problem there was the worn out bogey bearings which put massive extra load on the winding house motors (and in particular the speed controller).
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top