Wearmouth Bridge

Wearmouth Bridge
Wearmouth Bridge in the foreground and the Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge in the background.
Coordinates	54°54′36″N1°22′58″W / 54.91°N 1.3828°W / 54.91; -1.3828
OS grid reference	NZ396574
Carries	A183   A1018  Motor vehicles  1  Cycles Pedestrians
Crosses	River Wear
Locale	Wearside
Official name	Wearmouth Bridge
Maintained by	Sunderland City Council
Heritage status	Grade II listed building
Next upstream	Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Through arch bridge
Material	Iron
Total length	375 ft (114 m)
Width	48 ft (15 m)
Longest span	114 m (374 ft)
Clearance below	105 ft (32 m)
No. of lanes	5 3 northbound 2 southbound
History
Designer	Mott, Hay and Anderson
Constructed by	Sir William Arrol & Co.
Construction start	1927
Construction end	1929
Construction cost	£231,943
Opened	1929
Inaugurated	31 October 1929
Replaces	Wearmouth Bridge
Location

Wearmouth Bridge is a through arch bridge across the River Wear in Sunderland, England. It is the final bridge over the river before its mouth with the North Sea.

Original bridge

Main article: Wearmouth Bridge (1796)

The original Wearmouth Bridge was designed by Thomas Paine and opened in 1796. In 1805 the bridge was repaired, and between 1857 and 1859 it was reconstructed by Robert Stephenson.

History

To accommodate the growing volume of traffic, construction began on the current bridge in 1927. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and fabricated by the famous bridge building firm of Sir William Arrol & Co. at their Dalmarnock Ironworks in Glasgow (they also built the famous Forth Rail Bridge and the steel structure of Tower Bridge in London). ^[1] The new bridge was built around the old one to allow the road to remain open. ^[2] It was opened on 31 October 1929 by the Duke of York (who would later become King George VI). ^[3]

The cost of the bridge amounted to £231,943 of which £12,000 was spent on dismantling the old bridge. ^[3] The adjoining Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge was built in 1879, and extended the railway south from Monkwearmouth to the centre of Sunderland. ^[4] The bridge carries the A183 road between Chester-le-Street and South Shields and the A1018 which was the old route of the A19 until the bypass was built leading to the Tyne Tunnel. It is a Grade II listed building. ^[5] Sunderland City Council commissioned the building of Keel Crossing, a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge, in 2023 in order to reduce congestion on Wearmouth Bridge on matchdays. ^[6]

A silhouette of the bridge appears on the Sunderland AFC crest since a 1997 redesign, along with the Penshaw Monument.

Gallery

Images of the Wearmouth Bridge Looking north across the Wearmouth Bridge. Looking south along the Wearmouth Bridge. Underneath the Wearmouth Bridge

References

1. 'The Sir William Arrol Collection', Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland contains many pictures of Wearside Bridge under Construction
2. "LOCAL STUDIES CENTRE FACT SHEET NUMBER 7: The Wearmouth Bridge". Local Studies Centre collection, Sunderland Public Library Service. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
3. Vickers, Alex. "The second Wearmouth Bridge". National Grid for Learning. Retrieved 24 September 2006.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
4. "Historic Structures: Wearmouth Bridge". Sunderland City Council. Archived from the original on 8 May 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2006.
5. Historic England. "WEARMOUTH BRIDGE (1279911)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 19 June 2015.
6. Robertson, Ross (18 September 2024). "New footbridge now spanning its full length over the river in huge moment for city". Sunderland Echo . Archived from the original on 11 June 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.

External links

• Wearmouth Bridge over River Wear
• Image gallery at BBC Wear

Next bridge upstream	River Wear	Next bridge downstream
Monkwearmouth Bridge Durham Coast Line & Tyne and Wear Metro	Wearmouth Bridge Grid reference NZ396574	None North Sea