Tyne Bridge Case Study: A Civil Engineering Marvel

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

TYNE BRIDGE
1

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Stakeholder needs.......................................................................................................................3
Conceptual design process.........................................................................................................4
System requirements..................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11
2

Introduction
The following report is based on the case study of the Tyne Bridge. The Tyne Bridge is one
of the famous bridges situated in the United Kingdom. It is named Tyne because it crosses
the Tyne River. It also the most iconic and celebrated which among the seven bridges that
cross the river, Tyne. It was well-designed by the firm of engineering named Mott, Anderson,
and Hay. The design was then turned into the development and built by the Dorman Long
and Co. of Middlesbrough. It is also known as the through arc bridge which links the
Newcastle upon Gateshead and Tyne. The opening of the bridge was held on October 10th,
1928 by King George V. It is the city’s tallest structure. The bridge is officially owned by the
council of Gateshead and Newcastle city and the maintenance responsibility is handled by the
joint committee of Newcastle-Gateshead Bridges. The present bridge popularly known as the
New Tyne Bridge was the rebuilt version of the Old Tyne Bridge which was destroyed in the
year 1771. The following report will be able to clear the concept of the construction of
bridges and will help to learn how the strengths and capacity of the bridges are judged. The
importance of the material selection can also be learnt from this case study of Tyne Bridge.
Stakeholder needs
In the month of November 1771, the Tyne has been hit by the great flood. This was the phase
when the Tyne Bridge, popularly known as the Old Tyne Bridge had collapsed because of the
high rainfall rate from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. The Gateshead arches and the
middle arch collapsed very early. At this time, the shops and houses were used to be there on
the bridge (BBC, 2014). It took many years to build the land and building as they were
before. Till 1781, it was reconstructed which was again destroyed by the wind and storm.
After this, the decision to reconstruct it has been taken in 1864 because of the high-level
bridge tolls cost. But, the first discussion which was serious took place in 1883 in which the
committees discussed it for next three decades and still no decision was taken till 1920. In
1924, finally the committee members of the Gateshead and Newcastle approved on the rebuilt
of the Tyne Bridge whose cost was estimated around £1 million which includes the
acquisition of land (Historic England, 2019). This is the reason why there was a need for
building the New Tyne Bridge. The stakeholders that were involved in the construction of the
bridge are designers which are responsible for designing the bridge, architects who made the
blueprint of the bridge and the contractors who are responsible for constructing the bridge.
3

Figure 1: Old Tyne Bridge
Figure 2: New Tyne Bridge
Conceptual design process
The process for designing the bridge has been started in 1925 August along with the building
contractor Dorman Long. During the building of the Tyne bridge structure, one of the
workers has died. The design for this bridge was comparable to the Sydney Harbour Bridge
by Anderson, Hay, and Mott. The idea for the design has been taken into account by the Hell
Gate Bridge situated in New York. The bridge took 3 years for its completion and was
completed on February 25th, 1928 but was come in use from 10th October 1928. It was
architect by Robert Burns Dick. The requirements of the commission of Tyne's improvements
are that there shouldn’t be any river piers and it should allow the full clearance of navigation.
The total cost of the construction of bridge was around £1,200,000. The first people to use the
roadway of the bridge were King George V and Queen Mary. On the opening of the bridge
4

King gave the speech which was recorded by the Movietone News. The material used was
Cornish granite and steel. The total length of the bridge is 389 m which is roughly 1276 ft.
The width is around 17 m, i.e., 56 ft and it has the longest span that is approximately 26 m
i.e., 531 ft. the clearance path below the bridge is about 26m i.e., 85 ft. the bridge weighs
around 7112 metric tonnes (Historic England, 2019). The number of lanes on the bridge are
four. The design was like the five-story warehouse in which the inner floors in the tower of
bridge were not completed and hence the place had never been used. The lift was built for the
goods and passengers which are no longer in use. The daily traffic that the bridge bears is
around 70,000 vehicles. The bridge carries the A1 road. The bridge has been built in the
shape of the ship with the use of the techniques of shipbuilding with panels and rivets which
were together welded. With the staring of the arch of the ridge, it started to symbolize that it
was the grand engineering prowess. The builders of the bridge risk their lives with the
increasing height of the bridge from the water level of the Tyne, scaling structures and
heights with the Spiderman’s agility. After reaching 80 ft above the ground level, the builders
began to work without the use of safety harness and ropes. The one person named Nathaniel
Collins died who fell around 100ft hitting the water from the bridge and end up fracturing the
skull. At first, the bridge has been painted by a green color. The paint was specially made by
J. Dampney Co. of Gateshead. Again in 2000, it was painted by the use of the same color
(BBC, 2014).
Figure 3: The shaping of Tyne Bridge in 1928
5

Figure 4: workers on the span
Figure 5: connection of the Tyne Bridge
Technical information
Features Metrics
Length 1276 feet
Width 56 feet
Height 194 feet
Length of the arch span 531 feet
Clearance 85 feet
Structural steel 7010 tons
Rise of arch 180 feet
Number of rivets 77124
With the opening of the Tyne Tunnel in 1967, the A1 road has been diverted to the East and
hence the road becomes A6127. The A1 moved again because of the Newcastle Western
Bypass construction. The largest Olympic rings were erected on the Tyne Bridge in 2012.
6

The dimensions of the rings were approximately 25 by 12 meters which are around 82 by 39
ft. The weight of the bridge is an excess of four tonnes. The manufacturing of rings was done
by commercial signage specialists Signmaster ED Ltd of Kelso. This is because of the
preparation for the hosting of the Olympic football treatment in Newcastle and the Olympic
torch relay. In June 2012 the Tyne Bridge was struck by the large lightning bolt. The roads
have been lit up because the darkness of the sky. The bolt was basically the part of the super-
cell thunderstorm which came with the heavy rain. The two hours rain worth month’s rain has
flash flooded the Tyneside. In 2015, the Rugby World cup was hosted in the Newscastle
where the three matches were played at the home of Newcastle United Football Club, St
James Park (Gateshead, 2019). For the recognition, the sign which is large illuminated was
erected on the bridge of Tyne. In 2017 November it has been recognized as the venue for the
Tyne Finale which is the finale of the Freedom city festival 2017.
It was listed at Grade II* on 23rd August 2018. It means that bridge is an important structure
because of the following principles which are outlined below:
 Historic interest: it is associated with the most distinguished civil engineers like Sir
Ralph Freeman who is the designer of many eye-catching bridges.
 Architectural interest: the interest includes:
 Pylons that incorporate towers
 It has been recognized worldwide for the design and has become the industrial
pride of Tyneside.
 It has the steel arch design, which has been noted as the largest span.
 Scaled-down version (The Conversation, 2019).
 Group value: the Swing bridge, High-level Bridge and the Tyne Bridge has been
augmented in 2001 by the addition of Millennium bridge which was taken all together
has provided with the most dramatic and evocative England’s river crossing.
7

Figure 6: Olympics rings on Tyne Bridge
Figure 7: Rugby World Cup 2015
System requirements
The requirements of the system include:
 MATERIALS: steel arch, the parapet of the bridge is cast iron, the road approach is
supported by a stone wall and steel columns, concrete and steel towers, pylon, clad in
granite.
 PLAN: land should be approachable to either end; single-span, the suspended deck is
carried out by the two-hinged steel arch.
 EXTERIOR: the steel arch that is in the form of the two hinged that has been built
with the use of steel parabolic trusses. Each of the hinged consists of the two arched
ribs that are apart by the distance of 14m. The arch spans around 162 m and its height
are approximately 55 m. The deck consists of the cross-griders (Gateshead, 2019).
8

 INTERIOR: the tower’s central part serves as the warehouse which is almost unused,
the lifts are provided and stairs as well which goes from the ground level to the deck
level of the bridge.
 NORTH TOWER: the section of the warehouse has the steel framework of joists, the
supporting columns, and the main beams for the intended floors. The stairs are up to
the deck level which is the place where the entrance of the arches opens into the lobby
which is rectangular which is coated with the concrete coving and exit and entrance.
The lobby is fitted with decorative light and double doors.
 SOUTH TOWER: it has the same steel framework as the north tower along with the
shafts for the lift. It also consists of the staircase, vestibule, and public stair hall (The
Conversation, 2019).
The requirements that have been checked before the construction are:
Material used Approved
Length Approved
Width Approved
Weight Approved
Capacity Approved
Clearance Approved
Parabolic arch’s length Approved
Strength Approved
Conclusion
From this case study on Tyne Bridge, it was concluded that Tyne Bridge is one of the most
famous and iconic bridges situated in Unite kingdom on the river Tyne. It is the longest
bridge and has built in the year 1928 whose construction has been started in 1925. It was built
using granite and steel. Many architects and designers were involved in the construction of
the ridge. Many of the activities took place which has given bridge recognition and
popularity. The bridge is now recognized as the new Tyne Bridge after it was destroyed by
the floods. The plan was first made on how the constructing will start and how it will proceed
further. The most important requirements on which the discussion is prior is important are the
materials, exterior, and the interior. The materials are the most important part of the
9

discussion as it has to be proper and of good quality. The exterior and interior are the second
most significant part as it decides the look of the bridge and how it will be beneficial for the
local people and what all should be provided so that it can be easily accessible by the local
peoples. It was concluded that the construction of the bridge requires many approvals and the
material to be of good quality so that the capacity and strength can be good and acceptable.
10

References
BBC, 2014. Inside Out. [Online] BBC. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northeast/series3/tyne_bridge_northeasthistory.shtml
[Accessed on 26 August 2019]
Historic England, 2019. Tyne Bridge (also known as New Tyne Bridge). [Online] Historic
England. Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1248569
[Accessed on 26 August 2019]
Gateshead, 2019. Tyne Bridges at Gateshead. [Online] Gateshead. Available at:
http://www.gateshead-history.com/tyne-bridges-at-gateshead.html [Accessed on 26 August
2019]
The Conversation, 2019. Newcastle’s iconic Tyne Bridge: how it became a symbol of the
city’s changing fortunes. [Online] The Conversation. Available at:
http://theconversation.com/newcastles-iconic-tyne-bridge-how-it-became-a-symbol-of-the-
citys-changing-fortunes-104500. [Accessed on 26 August 2019]
11