The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge carries the

Tyne and Wear Metro The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland (together forming Tyne and Wear). The network opened in ...

between

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

over the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...

. The line is in tunnels on either side of the river and only emerges into open air to cross the bridge.

History

Metro Bridge nearing completion, 1978 (25760168724)

The bridge was developed as part of the Tyne and Wear Metro system, for which it was purpose-built. It was designed by W. A. Fairhurst & Partners, and constructed by Cementation Construction Ltd. and the

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a UK bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington. It built landmarks including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge; the Forth Road and Humber suspe ...

at a cost of £4.9 million. The two sections of the bridge were built simultaneously from each bank and eventually met in the centre in August 1978. It was officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on 6 November 1981, nine days before regular Metro service began. It is similar to

Ballachulish Bridge The Ballachulish Bridge is a bridge in the West Highlands of Scotland. It crosses the narrows (Caolas mhic Phadruig - Patrick's Narrows) between Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe, linking the villages of South Ballachulish The village of Ballach ...

on the A82 which opened in 1975, which was also built by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company. It was one of two major bridges built specifically for the Tyne and Wear Metro, the other being the

Byker Viaduct The Byker Viaduct (also known as the Byker Metro Bridge) is a curved 'S' shaped light railway bridge, which carries the Tyne and Wear Metro over the River Ouseburn in Newcastle upon Tyne. It carries the line from Manors Metro station in the c ...

crossing the

Ouseburn The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city of Newcastle upon Tyne into the River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn electoral ward for Newcastle City Council elections ...

valley.

''Nocturne'' artwork

In 2006,

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

, operators of the Metro, commissioned artist Nayan Kulkarni to install a huge artwork on the bridge. The artwork, ''Nocturne'', sees the bridge painted two distinct tones of blue, while at night, 140 ''Lumiflood 36'' LED lighting units create an ever-changing pattern of colours based on photographs submitted by members of the public. ''Nocturne'' was completed and opened on 26 April 2007 and means that all five main bridges across the Tyne between Gateshead and Newcastle have unique lighting schemes. However, as of 2021 the lighting system is not operational, with Nexus citing operational costs.

References

External links

* {{River item box , River =

, upstream =

King Edward VII Bridge The King Edward VII Bridge is a railway bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, in North East England. It is a Grade II listed structure. The King Edward VII bridge has been described as “Britain’s last gre ...

, downstream = High Level Bridge , upsub =

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running b ...

, downsub = {{UK road, B1307 and

Durham Coast Line The Durham Coast Line is an approximately railway line running between Newcastle and in North East England. Heavy rail passenger services, predominantly operated Northern Trains, and some freight services operate over the whole length of the li ...

, type = bridge , location = NZ248634 , thisis = Queen Elizabeth II Bridge Railway bridges in Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear Metro Bridges completed in 1978 Crossings of the River Tyne

History

''Nocturne'' artwork

References

Further reading

External links