Postcard of Burn Closes bridge
A CUSTOMER brought a postcard to Local Studies, which had been sent by his aunt Emily Walker and her mother showing a picture of the new Burn Closes Bridge.
Emily writes: "They are making a new cemetery and they have had to make this bridge to get to it. You will laugh when you see it, it is such a shape."
The Shields Daily News reported the official testing of the bridge by Mr D Balfour, engineer from Newcastle on March 15, 1913.
At 60 ft high with a 40 ft wide roadway, the bridge was built by William Thomas Weir of Howdon, who with his brother-in-law John Gilling Williams began brick-making and built houses on part of Bewicke Estate after inheriting his father's business in 1880. His firm went on to build Wallsend schools and many other local structures.
Using a unique ferro-concrete construction system, Burn Closes Bridge cost around 5,000 with the majority provided by local landowners and one third paid by Wallsend Town Council.
On September 18, 1912 a letter from Messrs Dickinson, Archer and Thorpe gave permission to use material from the Pit Heap at Willington for embankments and bridge approaches to strengthen the structure.
Over the years the bridge has experienced numerous problems caused by shifting ground with extensive repairs becoming increasingly costly. In 1985 an estimate for rebuilding stood at 870,000.
Demolition to make way for a new bridge began on June 12 last year under the main contractor Balfour Beatty. Government funding of 4.1 million has been provided for the job.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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