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Surtees Rail Bridge
The Surtees Rail Bridge is a rail bridge on the Tees Valley Line over the River Tees in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. The bridge is south of Stockton-on-Tees town centre and just north of the adjacent Surtees Bridge which carries the A66 road. The bridge is built on the site of a series of Tees Bridges alternating between two adjacent crossing sites.
Since 1830 there have been a series of railway bridges over the River Tees at this point. To ensure continuity of service, replacement bridges have been constructed adjacent to the current operational bridge.
The 1830 bridge was an iron chain suspension bridge built principally to carry coal on the Stockton and Darlington Railway to Port Darlington, later to be renamed Middlesbrough, and was to be the first suspension bridge built for railway traffic.
The designer was Sir Samuel Brown, a retired naval officer with experience building the 1820 Union Bridge over the River Tweed between Scotland and England, and the Royal Suspension Chain Pier, Brighton (1823).
Stockton Railway Bridge was 412 feet (125.6 m) long with a main span of 218 feet (66 m). The 6 feet (1.8 m) wide unstiffened bridge deck was suspended using 792 feet (241 m) of round eye bar link chain supported by two masonry towers, giving 20 feet (6.1 m) of clearance (heading) on the river below the deck and there were lattice timber parapets on either side of the deck. The whole structure cost £2,300 and weighed only 113 tonnes—less than the loads it was expected to carry.
Work was started on the bridge in 1829 and it was opened on 27 December 1830.
When the first trial steam engine and train of loaded coal wagons crossed the bridge on 27 December 1830, the bridge flexed so much that the unstiffened bridge deck rose like a static wave in front of the engine. One particular trial load was enough to damage the towers with one tower on the Yorkshire side cracking. The bridge was propped mid span using trestles and traffic was restricted to four wagons at a time, spaced 27 feet (8 m) apart by chains to spread the load.
The trials had shown that this type of suspension bridge was unsuitable for railway traffic and to this day there are no rail suspension bridges in the UK. Suspension bridges were not used successfully for railways until the building of the 1855 Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge in the USA incorporating both road and rail decks. The foundations and submerged remains of the wooden trestles of the 1830 bridge were found during work for the construction of the 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge.
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Surtees Rail Bridge
The Surtees Rail Bridge is a rail bridge on the Tees Valley Line over the River Tees in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. The bridge is south of Stockton-on-Tees town centre and just north of the adjacent Surtees Bridge which carries the A66 road. The bridge is built on the site of a series of Tees Bridges alternating between two adjacent crossing sites.
Since 1830 there have been a series of railway bridges over the River Tees at this point. To ensure continuity of service, replacement bridges have been constructed adjacent to the current operational bridge.
The 1830 bridge was an iron chain suspension bridge built principally to carry coal on the Stockton and Darlington Railway to Port Darlington, later to be renamed Middlesbrough, and was to be the first suspension bridge built for railway traffic.
The designer was Sir Samuel Brown, a retired naval officer with experience building the 1820 Union Bridge over the River Tweed between Scotland and England, and the Royal Suspension Chain Pier, Brighton (1823).
Stockton Railway Bridge was 412 feet (125.6 m) long with a main span of 218 feet (66 m). The 6 feet (1.8 m) wide unstiffened bridge deck was suspended using 792 feet (241 m) of round eye bar link chain supported by two masonry towers, giving 20 feet (6.1 m) of clearance (heading) on the river below the deck and there were lattice timber parapets on either side of the deck. The whole structure cost £2,300 and weighed only 113 tonnes—less than the loads it was expected to carry.
Work was started on the bridge in 1829 and it was opened on 27 December 1830.
When the first trial steam engine and train of loaded coal wagons crossed the bridge on 27 December 1830, the bridge flexed so much that the unstiffened bridge deck rose like a static wave in front of the engine. One particular trial load was enough to damage the towers with one tower on the Yorkshire side cracking. The bridge was propped mid span using trestles and traffic was restricted to four wagons at a time, spaced 27 feet (8 m) apart by chains to spread the load.
The trials had shown that this type of suspension bridge was unsuitable for railway traffic and to this day there are no rail suspension bridges in the UK. Suspension bridges were not used successfully for railways until the building of the 1855 Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge in the USA incorporating both road and rail decks. The foundations and submerged remains of the wooden trestles of the 1830 bridge were found during work for the construction of the 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge.