Council chiefs have refused to commit to having the Tyne Bridge restored to its full glory in time for its 100th birthday.
The iconic symbol of the North East is desperate for a total makeover, with it not having received any major maintenance for two decades – leaving it in dire need of a repaint and a series of structural repairs. A £40m funding bid to return the rusted crossing to its fitting state, plus renovate the Central Motorway, has been awaiting Government approval for more than two years.
And while there is now a cautious expectation that the Department for Transport (DfT) will sign off on the project, city leaders were reluctant to commit on Monday night to having the overdue repairs completed in time for the bridge’s centenary year in 2028.
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It has long been Newcastle City Council’s stated ambition to have the Tyne Bridge once again looking its best in time for that landmark occasion. Civic centre officials are hoping that the Government will agree to cover the bulk of the funding for the scheme this May, with work on the bridge starting this summer and complete in 2024 – while repairs to the Central Motorway are expected to start in 2023 and be finished in 2026.
But, at a cabinet meeting on Monday, there were warnings that the full scale of the bridge’s sad deterioration remains unknown – and that, like other major restoration projects such as the Grainger Market, engineers may yet run into unexpected problems that delay the massive works. Lib Dem opposition leader Nick Cott asked for a reassurance that the maintenance would be done in time for the 100th anniversary, saying it would be “terrible if it was not and it would not say very much about the council and its ability to deliver projects of this sort”.
Coun Ged Bell, Labour’s cabinet member for transport, replied: “I don’t think it is right to pre-determine before we have even inspected the bridge, this is what I am hoping there is unanimous support for tonight – that we can get the process under way and start thorough investigations to find out exactly how the money is going to be spent. Then there can be a more detailed timeline laid down.
"We would all wish to have this finished, completed, a shining example of an iconic bridge that has been copied across the world, ready for its birthday. We will do everything we can possibly do, but until we get this detail we cannot commit to a set date.”
City council leader Nick Forbes added that it had “always been my expectation that it will be done well in time for its hundredth anniversary”.
However, he warned: “We have seen with other buildings and bridges in the city, like the Grainger Market and the High Level Bridge, that once you start looking at such structures often they need rather more remedial work than was originally assessed. That is not about any sense of incompetence, that is just because you get into the structures you cannot tell exactly what work is going to be required.”
The cabinet granted approval on Monday for the local authority to appoint specialist contractors to help develop the maintenance project, identify exactly what it would cost, and then carry out the works – in the hope that work can begin as quickly as possible once funding is confirmed. The cost of the works is expected to be £41.4m – split equally between the bridge and Central Motorway.
According to a cabinet report, it is now hoped that the DfT will cover around £35m of that, with the remainder coming from Newcastle and Gateshead councils. The bridge’s upgrade would include its repainting, resurfacing the road, steelwork and concrete repairs, stonework and masonry fixes, waterproofing, and bridge joint replacement, and more.
