Tees Victoria Bridge

{{Short description|Road bridge over the River Tees in Northern England}}

{{Other places|Victoria Bridge (disambiguation){{!}}Victoria Bridge}}{{see also|Tees Jubilee Bridge}}

{{Infobox bridge

| bridge_name = Victoria Jubilee Bridge

| native_name =

| image = Victoria_Bridge_-_lvm15.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| alt =

| caption = Victoria Bridge over the river Tees

| official_name = Victoria Jubilee Bridge

| carries = Bridge Road (A1130)

| crosses = River Tees

| locale = Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England, United Kingdom

| owner =

| maint =

| id =

| designer = Harrison Haytor and Charles Neate

| design = Wrought iron arch

| material = Wrought and cast iron, stone and concrete

| length = {{convert|104|m|ft|0|order=flip}}

| width = {{convert|60|ft|m|0}}

| height =

| mainspan = {{convert|110|ft|m|0}}

| spans = 3

| pierswater = 2

| load =

| clearance =

| below =

| life =

| builder = Whitaker Brothers of Leeds

| fabricator =

| begin = 1882

| open = 20 June 1887

| complete = 1887

| inaugurated =

| traffic =

| preceded = Surtees Rail Bridge

| followed = Teesquay Millennium Bridge

| heritage = Grade II listed building (19 February 2010)

| collapsed =

| closed =

| map_cue =

| map_image =

| map_text =

| map_width =

| coordinates = {{Coord |54|33|30|N|1|18|25|W|display=inline,title}}

| lat =

| long =

| extra =

}}

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.

Under an 1881 act of Parliament, the bridge was constructed (1882–1887) at a cost of £69,051 by Whitaker Brothers of Leeds,{{cite book |last=Rennison |first=Robert William |title=Civil engineering heritage |year=1996 |isbn=9780727725189 |access-date=23 August 2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv2BrOMo8cIC&q=Victoria+Bridge+Stockton&pg=PA93}}{{cite web |title=Victoria Bridge, Thornaby |work=British Listed Buildings |access-date=25 July 2010 |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-506706-victoria-bridge-thornaby}}{{cite web |title=Victoria Bridge, Stockton-on-Tees |work=Bridges on the Tyne |access-date=23 August 2009 |year=2007 |url=http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/victoria.html}}

financed by the local council, a tramway company, North East Railways and the water board, and commemorates the 50th year of the reign of Queen Victoria.{{cite web|last=Kenyon |first=Chris |title=A Trip up the Tees |work=Tees Rowing Club |access-date=23 August 2009 |url=http://www.teesrowingclub.co.uk/v_tripuptees.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412003338/http://www.teesrowingclub.co.uk/v_tripuptees.asp |archive-date=12 April 2009}}{{cite web|title=The Victoria Bridge at Stockton Teesside |work=marphotographics |access-date=23 August 2009 |url=http://www.marphotographics.co.uk/selected-photo.php?picid=220 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060410/http://www.marphotographics.co.uk/selected-photo.php?picid=220 |archive-date=21 September 2013}}

History

Before the existence of a bridge at this location communication was provided by Bishop's Ferry.

The first bridge was a five arch Stockton (stone) Bridge completed in 1771, designed by Joseph Robson of Sunderland.{{cite web|title=SINE Project, Structure Details for Victoria Bridge |work=Sine – Structural Images of the North East |access-date=23 August 2009 |publisher=University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne |url=http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=351 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613001025/http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=351 |archive-date=13 June 2011}}

This replaced Yarm Bridge as the lowest bridge point on the River Tees and was toll free by 1820.{{cite book|volume=3 |last=Page |first=William |title=Parishes: Stockton on Tees |series=A History of the County of Durham |access-date=25 July 2010 |year=1928 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42640 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604101356/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42640 |archive-date=4 June 2011}}

Design

The design is a wrought-iron arch bridge by Charles Neate and consulting engineer Harrison Haytor.

The foundations of the abutments and piers are five cylindrical columns, {{convert|40|ft|m}} deep and {{convert|14|ft|m}} in diameter.

The abutments are faced with granite and sandstone and are filled in with large stone rubble.

The bridge has three arches – the centre arch is {{convert|110|ft|m}} wide and the side arches are {{convert|85|ft|m}}.

The arches each have eight wrought iron ribs that vary in thickness from {{convert|3|ft|cm}} at the centre to {{convert|4|ft|cm}} at the bearings.

The deck is carried on buckled plates resting on secondary beams.

The road is {{convert|40|ft|m}} wide and the pavement {{convert|10|ft|m|0}} wide.{{cite web |last=Proud |first=Keith |title=How Thornaby turned into a pottery town |work=The Northern Echo |publisher=NewsBank |access-date=3 August 2020 |date=2 May 2007 |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&t=&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=how%20thornaby%20turned%20into%20a%20pottery%20town&docref=news/118E9A7F53875038|url-access=subscription}}

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.

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.

Operation

The bridge was opened on 20 June 1887.

Shortly after the opening the tram system was extended over the bridge, and the bridge was to be used by trams until 1931.

The bridge at this point was the lowest bridge point until the opening of the Transporter Bridge in 1911{{cite news|last=Delplanque |first=Paul |title=Victoria Bridge Stockton...Then and now |work=Gazette Live |location=Teesside |publisher=Evening Gazette |access-date=25 July 2010 |date=31 August 2009 |url=http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2009/08/victoria-bridge-stocktonthen-a.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003221534/http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2009/08/victoria-bridge-stocktonthen-a.html |archive-date=3 October 2011}}

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

and the bridge still bears shrapnel damage from the time.{{Cite web |last1=Ripley |first1=Roy |last2=Pears |first2=Brian |title=Incidents 16th August 1940 to 28th/29th August 1940 |work=NE Diary 1939-45 |access-date=25 July 2010 |url=http://www.bpears.org.uk/NE-Diary/Inc/ISeq_07.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923145941/http://bpears.org.uk/NE-Diary/Inc/ISeq_07.html# |archive-date=23 September 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

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.

{{gallery |align=center

|Image:Victoria Bridge-roadway-1280.jpg |The view over the bridge roadway

|Image:Victoria Bridge-from east bank-1280.jpg |The view from the east bank

|Image:Victoria Bridge-plaque-1280.jpg |A commemorative plaque on the bridge.

}}

References

External links

Webpages: [http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/victoria.html Bridges on the Tyne], [http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=s0057678 Structurae]
Google Books: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv2BrOMo8cIC&dq=Victoria+Bridge+Stockton&pg=PA93 Civil engineering heritage]
Photographs: [https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Victoria%20Bridge%20Stockton&w=all&s=int Flickr]
Historic photographs: [http://www.thisisstockton.co.uk/gallery/Old-Pictures-of-Stockton-12.asp This is Stockton on Tees].

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{{Geographic location

|Northwest = Stockton-on-Tees
town centre

|North =

|Northeast = Teesdale Business Park

|West =

|Centre = Victoria Bridge
over the River Tees

|East = Thornaby railway station

|Southwest = Surtees Bridge

|South =

|Southeast = Thornaby-on-Tees }}

{{Crossings navbox