Wylam Railway Bridge

Wylam Railway Bridge

Wylam Railway Bridge as seen from the south bank of the River Tyne
Coordinates 54°58′23″N 1°49′41″W / 54.973°N 1.828°W / 54.973; -1.828Coordinates: 54°58′23″N 1°49′41″W / 54.973°N 1.828°W / 54.973; -1.828
OS grid reference NZ111642
Carries Footpath
Cycleway
formerly Railway
Crosses River Tyne
Locale Northumberland, England
Characteristics
Design Wrought iron Through arch bridge.
Total length 80 m (260 ft)
History
Construction begin 1874
Construction end 1876
Opened 6 October 1876
Wylam Railway Bridge
Location in Northumberland

Wylam Railway Bridge, also known locally as Points Bridge, Half-moon Bridge, Hagg Bank Bridge, Bird Cage Bridge, or The Tin Bridge, is a footbridge and former railway bridge crossing the River Tyne at Hagg Bank, approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of Wylam in Northumberland, England.

History

The bridge was originally built for the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway,[1] to connect the North Wylam Loop with the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway.

A number of bodies were involved in the bridge's construction: W G Laws engineered the bridge, W E Jackson & Co. of Newcastle upon Tyne built the bridge's foundations and masonry, while Hawks, Crayshay & Co. of Gateshead manufactured the ironwork. The bridge cost £16,000 to build and was opened to rail traffic on 6 October 1876.

Railway services over the bridge ended in 1968 when the line was closed, as one of the Beeching cuts. The trackwork was removed in 1972 and subsequently, in 1975, the bridge was converted into a footbridge and cyclepath linking Wylam with the Tyne Riverside Country Park at Low Prudhoe.

Design

The bridge's design came about because there was a need to avoid having piers in the river bed which would disrupt shallow mine workings underneath. It has been suggested that Wylam Railway Bridge might have been an inspiration for the designers of the much later Tyne Bridge in nearby Newcastle and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia.[2]

Wylam Railway Bridge is one of the earliest through arch bridges in the world.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hagg Bank Bridge.
  1. "Wylam Railway Bridge". Bridges on the Tyne. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  2. "Wylam Railway Bridge: The first of its kind". tynevalleywalking. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
Next railway bridge upstream River Tyne Next railway bridge downstream
Warden Railway Bridge  Wylam Railway Bridge
Grid reference: NZ111642
Scotswood Railway Bridge
(disused rail, now carries water and gas mains)
Next road crossing upstream River Tyne Next road crossing downstream
Ovingham Bridge  Wylam Railway Bridge
Grid reference: NZ111642
Wylam Bridge 
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.