Tees Victoria Bridge

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Victoria Jubilee Bridge
Victoria Bridge - lvm15.jpg
Victoria Bridge over the river Tees
Coordinates 54°33′30″N1°18′25″W / 54.55833°N 1.30694°W / 54.55833; -1.30694
CarriesBridge Road (A1130)
Crosses River Tees
Locale Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England, United Kingdom
Official nameVictoria Jubilee Bridge
Heritage statusGrade II listed building (19 February 2010)
Preceded by Surtees Rail Bridge
Followed by Teesquay Millennium Bridge
Characteristics
DesignWrought iron arch
MaterialWrought and cast iron, stone and concrete
Total length341 feet (104 m)
Width60 feet (18 m)
Longest span110 feet (34 m)
No. of spans3
Piers in water2
History
DesignerHarrison Haytor and Charles Neate
Constructed byWhitaker Brothers of Leeds
Construction start1882
Construction end1887
Opened20 June 1887
Location
Tees Victoria Bridge

The Victoria Jubilee Bridge, also known as Victoria Bridge, is a road bridge carrying Bridge Road (A1130) east west across the River Tees between Stockton and Thornaby in Northern England. Commonly referred to as the Victoria Bridge, it is located just south east of Stockton town centre and in the town's namesake borough.

Contents

Under an 1881 act of Parliament, the bridge was constructed (1882–1887) at a cost of £69,051 by Whitaker Brothers of Leeds, [1] [2] [3] financed by the local council, a tramway company, North East Railways and the water board, [3] and commemorates the 50th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. [3] [4] [5]

History

Before the existence of a bridge at this location communication was provided by Bishop's Ferry. [6] The first bridge was a five arch Stockton (stone) Bridge completed in 1771, designed by Joseph Robson of Sunderland. [1] [3] [4] [7] This replaced Yarm Bridge as the lowest bridge point on the River Tees and was toll free by 1820. [8]

Design

The design is a wrought-iron arch bridge by Charles Neate and consulting engineer Harrison Haytor. [1] [2] [3] The foundations of the abutments and piers are five cylindrical columns, 40 feet (12 m) deep and 14 feet (4.3 m) in diameter. [1] The abutments are faced with granite and sandstone and are filled in with large stone rubble. [7] The bridge has three arches – the centre arch is 110 feet (34 m) wide and the side arches are 85 feet (26 m). [7] The arches each have eight wrought iron ribs [1] [7] that vary in thickness from 3 feet (91 cm) at the centre to 4 feet (120 cm) at the bearings. [1] The deck is carried on buckled plates resting on secondary beams. [1] The road is 40 feet (12 m) wide and the pavement 10 feet (3 m) wide. [9] The balustrades are cast iron with an open design of interlocking circles, and on the parapets are ornamental cast-iron lampposts carrying modern lights while the spandrels are open cast-iron work with a design of diminishing interlocking circles. [2]

At either side of the bridge are land-based arches that are currently impassable on the upriver side. These were designed to allow horse-drawn barges to pass under the bridge.

Construction

Whitaker Brothers of Leeds began construction in 1882, and completed the bridge in 1887. [1] [3]

Operation

The bridge was opened on 20 June 1887. [4] [5] [7] [9] Shortly after the opening the tram system was extended over the bridge, and the bridge was to be used by trams until 1931. [3] The bridge at this point was the lowest bridge point until the opening of the Transporter Bridge in 1911 [6] and the lowest permanent bridge point until the opening of the Newport Bridge in 1934. During the second World War a bomb passed through the roadway without exploding [7] and the bridge still bears shrapnel damage from the time. [10] The bridge used to carry the A66 and A67 until the Surtees Bridge was built in 1981. In 2010 the bridge was made a grade II listed building. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Tees</span> East coast river of Northern England

The River Tees, in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for 85 miles (137 km) to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has been tied with the industries on Teesside in its lower reaches, where it has provided the means of import and export of goods to and from the North East England. The need for water further downstream also meant that reservoirs were built in the extreme upper reaches, such as Cow Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockton-on-Tees</span> Town in County Durham, England

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Teesside is a built-up area around the River Tees in North East England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The area contains the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, Redcar, Thornaby-on-Tees, and Ingleby Barwick. Teesside's economy was once dominated by heavy manufacturing until deindustrialisation in the latter half of the 20th century. Chemical production continues to contribute significantly to Teesside's economy.

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Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in the Teesside built-up area.

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The Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.

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References

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  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Victoria Bridge, Stockton-on-Tees". Bridges on the Tyne. 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 Kenyon, Chris. "A Trip up the Tees". Tees Rowing Club. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 "The Victoria Bridge at Stockton Teesside". marphotographics. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
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  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "SINE Project, Structure Details for Victoria Bridge". Sine – Structural Images of the North East. University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
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  9. 1 2 Proud, Keith (2 May 2007). "How Thornaby turned into a pottery town" . The Northern Echo. NewsBank. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  10. Ripley, Roy; Pears, Brian. "Incidents 16th August 1940 to 28th/29th August 1940". NE Diary 1939-45. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.