The Transporter Bridge is one of Teesside’s most famous and prominent landmarks. Built between 1910-11, it was designed by a local company Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co Ltd. and built by a Glasgow company, Sir William Arroll & Co Ltd., at a cost of £84,000, who used a great deal of local workforce.
During the years 1932 to 1934, the second major bridge over the Tees was built.
The Newport Bridge was designed by a man called Dr. David Anderson and was built by the local company Dorman, Long & Co. at a cost of £512,353. The Newport Bridge was officially opened on 28th February 1934 by the Duke of York (later King George VI) and his wife, the Duchess (Now our Queen Mother !!).
Started on 4th November 1991 and completed 22nd April 1995, The Tees Barrage is one of Teesside’s newest and most impressive facilities.
Its main function is to prevent the river upstream of the barrage being tidal and so opening many opportunities for water sports. The whole construction is built upon a 5 metre reinforced concrete base below the bed of the river which measures a massive 70 metres by 32 meters. On top of this stands 5 concrete piers with four 50 tonne gates in between them.
These gates are 13.5 metres long and 8 metres high and are operated by a 21 tonne hydraulic ram. It is these gates that keep the level upstream at a permanent high tide level.
Throughout the 1920's welding was used largely for the repair of structures such as Brunel's Saltash Bridge, but it was also being increasingly considered for new construction.
By 1927 the revolutionary new technique of welding had been applied to a single span girder bridge of 55 feet in length at Turtle Creek in the USA and by 1928 a 175 ft railway bridge at Chicopee Falls.
The first important European structure was erected at Lamberg in be Poland in 1929 followed by structures in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Australia. In 1931 work began on Newport Bridge, the well known lift bridge over the Tees.
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