New Tyne Bridge paint revealed
Last updated 31st Oct 2024
The first revamped sections of the Tyne Bridge are now visible to the public for the first time.
Locals travelling over the famous crossing this week may have already caught a glimpse of the classic green colour that the North East icon will be restored to over the next four years.
Engineers have been working on a £32 million refurbishment of the Tyne Bridge since April, the first major maintenance that the grade II* listed structure has undergone for more than 20 years, in the hope of having it returned to its former glory by the time of its centenary celebrations in October 2028.
Critical repairs to its badly rusted steelwork and a repaint in a gleaming ‘Hollybush’ green began on the Gateshead side of the bridge, where scaffolding is now starting to be dismantled.
Passersby can now see the first repaired section of the bridge parapet and the underside of the main road deck, as the coverings that have surrounded them for months come down.
As the scaffolding next to the Gateshead tower and the kittiwake ‘hotels’ installed as temporary nesting points for the Quayside’s colony of seabirds are taken down, the bridge will be closed overnight on three days next week – from 8pm to 6am on November 4 to 6.
Work will then move across to the Newcastle side of the bridge, where scaffolding will gradually rise over the coming months ahead of restoration work beginning on that section in early 2025.
Once works adjacent to the Newcastle tower are completed next autumn, the vast repair scheme will move onto the central section of the bridge and up its iconic arch.
Labour councillor Juna Sathian, Newcastle City Council’s cabinet member for climate and transport, said: “This is a hugely complex and challenging project and it’s great that people can now see for themselves the results of the restoration work, which has been taking place for many months behind the scaffolding.
“There is a real sense of passion and pride from everyone involved in the restoration programme as we proudly restore this icon to its former glory. This first glimpse gives us an idea of how amazing our much-loved bridge will look when the restoration programme is complete, and I can’t wait to see the end result.”
139,400 litres of paint will be used on the bridge, enough to fill 850 beer barrels, and the colour has been chosen to closely resemble the original 1920s paint job, a ‘Superlative Middle Green’ supplied by the Gateshead firm J Dampney and Co.
The Tyne Bridge has been green for most of its history, aside from a period between 1961 and 1985 when it was ‘persian blue’.
The bridge’s refurbishment is being carried out across 20 different phases over the four-year programme, as it could not withstand the 13,000 tonne weight of all the scaffolding being erected at once.
Council bosses say that the project remains on track to be completed in summer 2028, shortly before the 100th anniversary.