New Wear bridge

New Wear Bridge
Carries dual carriage Way, pedestrian,cycling
Crosses River Wear,
Locale Sunderland, England, United Kingdom
Official name New Wear Crossing
Characteristics
Design cable stay bridge
Material steel and reinforced concrete
Total length 336 metres (1,102 ft)
Width 25 metres (82 ft)
Height 105 metres (344 ft)
Longest span 240 metres (787 ft)
Piers in water 1

The New Wear Bridge is a new crossing over the River Wear in Sunderland, North East England, currently under construction. A cable three span cable-stayed structure, construction began in May 2015, overseen by Farrans Construction and Victor Buyck Steel Construction.

The Bridge had been proposed as early as 2005, however financial uncertainties caused significant delay. After funding was approved by the United Kingdom treasury, an iconic design was opted for which was dropped after several contractors withdrew.[1] Then, in 2014, the project was rejuvenated with a cable design.

Specifications

The bridge is being constructed to the west side of the city over the River Wear, with the purpose of reducing traffic congestion.[2] It was designed by Spence Associates in partnership with structural engineering firm Techniker, and has been tipped to become a landmark for the city.[3] The bridge was designed in 2005, but it was kept confidential for several years by the City Council to avoid a rise in expectations until funding was secured. Until then the council was also considering designs for a cheaper, basic design beam bridge.[4] The cost of the Spence design was estimated at £133 million for the bridge and the associated approaches and roadworks.[5]

The crossing forms part of the vast regeneration plan of the urban regeneration company Sunderland Arc, whose aim was to use the bridge as part of its plans for a Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor to improve transport links while also helping to improve the city's image.[2]

Background and history

Site of the proposed bridge in 2010

In 2003 the Urban Regeneration Company Sunderland arc commissioned the engineers Arup to assist with finding a suitable location for the siting of a new road bridge over the River Wear. In 2004 the American Architect Frank Gehry undertook a study for this new river crossing and subsequent to this work, an international design competition was organised by Sunderland arc in 2005. Several outstanding submissions were made, including one by Frank Gehry but it was the elegant cable-stay design of Spence Associated that finally won.

In 2008, there was a public consultation on the bridge designs by Sunderland City Council to see if the public would prefer the "iconic" design to a more basic beam bridge design.[6] The consultation showed that people in the Sunderland area were in favour of the "iconic" design,[7][8] with the council also backing the ideas,[9] and so plans for a cheaper beam bridge were shelved. The council believed that the "iconic" design bridge might help attract more businesses to the city and thus create more jobs.[10] The United Kingdom government announced £93 million towards the construction[11] and the regional development agency One NorthEast pledged another £8.5 million towards it, with the council funding the other £23 million required.[12]

The decision to build the Spence landmark design became Sunderland City Council policy on 9 September 2009.[13] On November 2009, public notices on the compulsory purchase of land and new rights for the project were published including side roads orders and bridge schemes notices, made under the Highways Act 1980.[14] An official planning application[15] was placed with Sunderland City Council on 7 December 2009 with a consultation expiry date of 29 October 2010. Construction was timetabled to start around 2012.[16]

On 26 May 2010 Sunderland Council approved the planning application and the project looked set to go ahead.[15] However, by July 2013 uncertainty loomed over the bridge due to complications in funding to meet the required design, with several contractors withdrawing.[17] This led to a dismissal of the "iconic" bridge scheme, with plans being resumed focusing upon a more simplistic cable design.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hoyland, Trevor (2008-12-01). "Next step in road to iconic Wear bridge". Sunderland Echo. Johnston Press. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  2. 1 2 "Regeneration projects: SSTC". Sunderland ARC. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  3. ↑ James, Paul (2008-11-20). "Landmark Wear bridge to be Sunderland's symbol". The Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  4. ↑ Vaughan, Richard (2008-09-12). "Spence Associates' Wear Bridge comes face to face with 'basic' rival". The Architects' Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  5. ↑ "Sunderland City Council: A new bridge for Sunderland". Sunderland City Council. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  6. ↑ "A new bridge for Sunderland....". Sunderland City Council. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  7. ↑ "New Wear Bridge Decision". Sunderland City Council. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  8. ↑ "Communities give their bridge views". Sunderland ARC. 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  9. ↑ "Council backs iconic Wear bridge despite the expense". New Civil Engineer. 2008-11-26. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  10. ↑ "Bridge will be England's tallest". BBC. 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  11. ↑ "Funding for new Wear crossing approved". Sunderland ARC. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  12. ↑ "£133m iconic bridge a step closer". Sunderland Echo. 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  13. ↑ Robertson, Ross (2009-09-10). "'People's bridge'gets the go-ahead". Sunderland Echo. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  14. ↑ "New Wear Bridge". Sunderland City Council. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  15. 1 2 "09/04661/LAP Planning Application". Sunderland City Council. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  16. ↑ "Striking design for new Wear bridge". New Start. 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  17. ↑ "Sunderland City Council scraps plan to build £118million bridge across the Wear". Sunderland Echo. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  18. ↑ "How the new £118m Sunderland bridge might look". Sunderland Echo. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
Next bridge upstream River Wear Next bridge downstream
Hylton Viaduct  New Wear bridge Queen Alexandra Bridge 
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