The Byker Bridge is a long road bridge that carries the A193 road over the River

Ouseburn The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city into the River Tyne, England, River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn Ward (country subdivision), electoral ward for Newcas ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. It carries traffic from the city centre and Central Motorway in the west, to the area of

Byker Byker is a district in the east of the City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series ''Byker Grove'', By ...

to the east, over the lower Ouseburn valley, with the river emptying into the north side of 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, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

, to the south. The bridge was opened to pedestrians on 19 October 1878, and then to carts and carriages on 27 January 1879. There was originally a half penny

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

, which was withdrawn on 12 April 1895. Originally wide, the bridge was widened to in 1899, by the addition of footpaths

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

ed out from the edge of the brickwork. The deck of the bridge was rebuilt during 1985/6 with the addition of pre-stressed concrete beams on cantilevers to support both footways and new crash barriers. It is one of three high-level bridges in close proximity making the same crossing, with the Byker Metro Bridge and then the Ouseburn railway viaduct both to the north (the S-shaped Metro bridge crosses over the road bridge at its eastern end).

References

Bridges in Newcastle upon Tyne {{UK-bridge-struct-stub