Wearmouth Bridge

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Coordinates: 54 ° 54 '36 "  N , 1 ° 22' 59"  W.

Wearmouth Bridge
Wearmouth Bridge
Official name Wearmouth Bridge
use Motor vehicles , pedestrians
Convicted A183, A1018
Crossing of Wear
place Sunderland (Tyne and Wear)
construction (I.) cast iron , (II.) Steel
overall length (I.) 72 m, (II.) 114 m
start of building (I.) 1793, (II.) 1927
completion (I.) 1796, (II.) 1929
opening (I.) Aug. 9, 1796, (II.) Oct. 31, 1929
location
Wearmouth Bridge (England)
Wearmouth Bridge

The Wearmouth Bridge is an arch bridge over the Wear in Sunderland in north-east England . It is the last bridge over the Wear before it flows into the North Sea .

The first Wearmouth Bridge was built in 1796 as the second cast iron bridge in the world and replaced by a new one in 1929.

First Wearmouth Bridge (1796)

First Wearmouth Bridge with the typical cast iron rings

The first Wearmouth Bridge was a cast iron bridge designed by Thomas Paine based on his model for a bridge over the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA . Its six arched ribs consisted of several smaller, hollow elements that were easier to cast without errors than large arched supports. They were held together by wrought iron rods and stiffened together by cast iron tubes. Cast iron rings with decreasing diameter were used to elevate the roadway. It was built at the instigation of the MP Roland Burdon, who appropriated the patents of the heavily indebted Paine with the help of Thomas Wilson from September 1793 and opened on August 9, 1796 by Prince William of Gloucester in the presence of 80,000 spectators. Burdon claimed credit for the construction alone. It was the second cast iron bridge after the Iron Bridge , but more than twice as long as this one, and with a span of 72 m it had the largest bridge arch in the world at the time. The construction, bold for the time, was much admired by contemporaries.

It was an important link over the Wear, as the nearest bridge was in Chester-le-Street about eight miles away, and so contributed significantly to the development of Sunderland.

In 1857, Robert Stephenson began a renovation that was completed in 1859.

Second Wearmouth Bridge (1929)

Third Wearmouth Bridge (1929)

In order to cope with the increasing traffic, the construction of the third Wearmouth Bridge began in 1927. The three-hinged steel arch bridge with a span of 114 m was built by Sir William Arrol & Company and on October 31, 1929 by the Duke of York to the later King George VI. opened. This bridge with five lanes now carries the traffic of the A 183 and the A 1018. It stands directly next to a railway bridge opened in 1879.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ England's cast iron arched truss bridges. In: Friedrich Heinzerling: The bridges in iron . Verlag von Otto Spamer, Leipzig 1870, p. 95 ( full text in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ A b Sigfried Giedion : Space, Time, Architecture . Verlag für Architektur Artemis, Zurich / Munich 1976, ISBN 3-7608-8106-8 , p. 132-133 .
  3. ↑ Johanna Schopenhauer , the philosopher's mother, wrote during her visit: A single enormous arch arches a hundred feet above the surface of the water, so that a ship can sail underneath without having to knock down the masts. We have never seen delicacy and strength so united. The bridge seems to float in the air like magic. Only the arch on which it rests and the railings that border it on both sides are of iron, it itself is of stone. (Quoted from: Johanna Schopenhauer: Journey through England and Scotland. Leipzig 1818, digitized by Project Gutenberg ( full text ))

Web links

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