The Surtees Rail Bridge is a rail bridge on the

Tees Valley Line The Tees Valley Line is a railway route in Northern England, following part of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway route of 1825. The line covers a distance of , and connects with via , and 14 other stations in the Teesdale. The ...

over the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

in the

Borough of Stockton-on-Tees The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority area in England with borough status in County Durham and North Yorkshire. In 2021, it had a population of 196,600. Its main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stockton-on-Tees, which ...

. The bridge is south of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

town centre and just north of the adjacent

Surtees Bridge The Surtees Bridge is a road bridge carrying the A66(T) road east west across the River Tees near Thornaby-on-Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in the north east of England. The bridge is situated one kilometre upriver from Stockton t ...

which carries the

A66 road The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. The road has been progressively ...

. The bridge is built on the site of a series of Tees Bridges alternating between two adjacent crossing sites.

Previous rail bridges in Stockton-on-Tees

Since 1830 there have been a series of railway bridges over the River Tees at this point. To ensure continuity of service, replacement bridges have been constructed adjacent to the current operational bridge.

The 1830 Stockton Railway Bridge

The 1830 bridge was an iron chain suspension bridge built principally to carry coal on the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...

to Port Darlington, later to be renamed

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, and was to be the first suspension bridge built for railway traffic. Railway suspension bridge over the Tees near Stockton

;Design The designer was Sir Samuel Brown, a retired naval officer with experience building the 1820 Union Bridge over the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

between Scotland and England, and the

Royal Suspension Chain Pier The Royal Suspension Chain Pier was the first major pier built in Brighton, England. Opened on 25 November 1823, it was destroyed during a storm on 4 December 1896. History Generally known as the ''Chain Pier'', it was designed by Captain S ...

, Brighton (1823). Stockton Railway Bridge was long with a main span of . The wide unstiffened bridge deck was suspended using of round eye bar link chain supported by two masonry towers, giving of clearance (heading) on the river below the deck and there were lattice timber parapets on either side of the deck. The whole structure cost £2,300 and weighed only 113 tonnes—less than the loads it was expected to carry. ;Construction Work was started on the bridge in 1829 and it was opened on 27 December 1830. ;Trials and operation When the first trial steam engine and train of loaded coal wagons crossed the bridge on 27 December 1830, the bridge flexed so much that the unstiffened bridge deck rose like a static wave in front of the engine. One particular trial load was enough to damage the towers with one tower on the Yorkshire side cracking. The bridge was propped mid span using trestles and traffic was restricted to four wagons at a time, spaced apart by chains to spread the load. The trials had shown that this type of suspension bridge was unsuitable for railway traffic and to this day there are no rail suspension bridges in the UK. Suspension bridges were not used successfully for railways until the building of the 1855

Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge stood from 1855 to 1897 across the Niagara River and was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls, where it connected Niagara Falls, Ontario to ...

in the USA incorporating both road and rail decks. The foundations and submerged remains of the wooden trestles of the 1830 bridge were found during work for the construction of the 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge.

The 1844 Stockton Railway Bridge

The 1830 bridge needed a replacement. With site investigations in 1841 by John Harris,

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

designed a five span cast iron trussed girder bridge on piled masonry piers. This was built over the period 1841–1844 by contractor Grahamsley and Read and when it opened in May 1844 it replaced the suspension bridge. The bridge was similar in design to Stephenson's 1846 bridge over the River Dee in Chester that had collapsed in the year following its completion. To ensure the same thing didn't happen at Stockton bridge, props were added and the bridge carried rail traffic until succeeded by the 1881 wrought iron bridge.

The 1881 bridge

In 1881 a wrought iron bridge was constructed with five spans of plate girders supported on concrete-filled iron cylinders. When the bridge was superseded by the 1906 bridge the tracks were removed. In 2008-2009 the 1881 bridge was dismantled and removed by Carillion Civil Engineering to make way for the 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge. Stockton Rail Bridge from the Yorkshire side

Stockton Rail Bridge from the Yorkshire side

The 1906 Tees Bridge

In 1906 a new superstructure was built on the original masonry piers of the 1844 Stephenson bridge using steel plate girders instead of the previous cast iron girders and brought back into use. The downstream 1881 wrought iron bridge was closed and the tracks removed. Due to settlement of the embankment and bridge distress there was a speed restriction imposed on the 1906 bridge. Although no longer carrying rail traffic, the bridge continues to carry rail signalling cables across the River Tees.

The 2009 Surtees Rail Bridge

In 2008-2009 the 1881 bridge was demolished to build a three span steel and concrete railway bridge. The new bridge was designed by HBPW Structural and Civil Engineering Services and built by Carillion Civil Engineering and

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, track, railway signalling, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the railway station, stations of the Transport in England#Rail, British railway syste ...

. The bridge's piers were designed to align with the middle three piers of the existing 1906 Tees Bridge to allow for the easy passage of river traffic. The 2009 bridge scheme received a commendation in the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

' Robert Stephenson Awards 2010.

References

External links

* Participants
Carillion PLCHBPW Structural and Civil Engineering ServicesNetwork Rail

a
Bridges on the Tyne

Structurae
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town centre , Northeast = Victoria Bridge , West = , Centre = Tees Bridge
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Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the River Tees, Thornaby falls within th ...

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Surtees Rail Bridge
The lowest railway bridge point , upstream =

next railway bridge
Gainford Railway Bridge , downstream = Victoria Bridge {{stockton Crossings of the River Tees Bridges completed in 1830 Bridges completed in 1844 Bridges completed in 1881 Bridges completed in 1906 Bridges completed in 2009 Bridges in County Durham Bridges in North Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Stockton-on-Tees 1830 establishments in England