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Newcastle Swing Bridge

The Swing Bridge over the River Tyne was first used for road traffic on 15th June 1876 and opened for river traffic on 17th July 1876. It had an innovative design, using hydraulic power to swing open and close. At the time of construction, it was the largest swing bridge ever built. The previous bridge on the site was demolished in 1868 so that larger ships could sail upstream to William Armstrong's Elswick works. Armstrong designed and paid for the bridge. The Swing Bridge stands on the site of the Medieval Tyne Bridge of 1270 and the later bridge of 1781, and probably of the Roman Pons Aelius.

The Swing Bridge is a swing bridge over the River Tyne, England, connecting Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, and lies between the Tyne Bridge and the High Level Bridge.

The hydraulic power still used to move the bridge is today derived from electrically driven pumps. These feed a hydraulic accumulator sunk into a shaft below the bridge; the water is then released under pressure which runs the machinery to turn the bridge. The mechanism used for this is still the same machinery originally installed by Armstrong.

It has an cantilevered span with a central axis of rotation able to move through 360° to allow vessels to pass on either side of it.

The previous bridge on the site was demolished in 1868 to enable larger ships to move upstream to William Armstrong's works. The hydraulic Swing Bridge was designed and paid for by Armstrong, with work beginning in 1873. It was first used for road traffic on 15 June 1876 and opened for river traffic on 17 July 1876. At the time of construction it was the largest swing bridge ever built. The construction costs were £240,000.

The Swing Bridge stands on the site of the Old Tyne Bridges of 1270 and 1781, and probably of the Roman Pons Aelius. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 16/04/2016).
Visit the page: Swing Bridge, River Tyne for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.

Bridges of the Quayside Gateshead Quays 1876 River Tyne Newcastle City Centre Historic Buildings and Monuments in Gateshead Bridges Grade II* Listed Newcastle Quayside (area) Old Toll House, Swing Bridge, Newcastle Historic Buildings and Monuments in Newcastle Lord William Armstrong (1810-1900)

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Newcastle Swing Bridge

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

063186:Swing Bridge Newcastle upon Tyne c.1875

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

003382:Swing Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1889

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

044108:Swing Bridge Newcastle upon Tyne unknown 1904

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

666797b:View of Newcastle upon Tyne from the High Level Bridge Unknown c.1910

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

715655:Swing Bridge Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown Undated

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

069408:Swing Bridge Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown Undated

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

666751:High Level and Swing Bridges Unknown Undated

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

043330:Newcastle Bridges Newcastle upon Tyne City Engineers 1967

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

056617:Newcastle Bridges Newcastle upon Tyne Frith F. c. 1950

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

061428:Newcastle Bridges Newcastle upon Tyne City Engineers c.1995

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

059599:Tyne Bridge at night. Unknown. 1993.

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

037098:'Tommy on the Bridge' Gateshead Unknown c.1905

from Victoria Sage (flickr)

Gateshead, ca 1910

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

002580a:Roman Altar

from Flickr (flickr)

Tyne Swing Bridge

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HMS Victoria on the River Tyne

from TWAM (flickr)

The Bridges

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Newcastle from the Swing Bridge

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The Swing Bridge - view from the roof of The Castle Keep - Newcastle

from Flickr (flickr)

Newcastle: Swing Bridge and Tyne Bridge

from Flickr (flickr)

Swing and High Level Bridges Newcastle

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Bridges

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IMG_4417

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Swing Low...

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IMG_8620

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Newcastle - Swing bridge, High-level bridge and castle

from Flickr (flickr)

Newcastle Swing Bridge

from Geograph (geograph)

Wooden jetty west of the Swing Bridge

from Geograph (geograph)

Swing Bridge Machine Room

from Geograph (geograph)

Rack and Pinion Drive, Tyne Swing Bridge

Co-Curate Page

Gateshead Quays

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

666754:View of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1903 - Auty Collection

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

026140:Newcastle bridges Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown c.1890

from TWAM (flickr)

Postcard of a steam tug called Vigilant coming through the swing bridge in Newcastle.

from Flickr (flickr)

Image taken from page 29 of 'Newcastle-upon-Tyne Royal Mining, Engineering, & Industrial Exhibition, Jubilee year, 1887. The bridges and the floods of Newcastle-upon-Tyne'

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

066879:A bird's eye view of Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown 1905

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

666797d:View of Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown c.1910

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

666755:High Level and Swing Bridges Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown Undated

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

Tor458, Swing Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

Lord William Armstrong (1810-1900)
- Overview About William Armstrong William George Armstrong was born on 26th November 1810, in Shieldfield, Newcastle. He became a prominent engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth company, producing armaments which …