Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:28:22,850 --> 00:28:24,770
And then, every 30 metres or so,
2
00:27:48,210 --> 00:27:51,690
a huge crane lifting steel sections off railway wagons
3
00:27:51,850 --> 00:27:53,850
and swinging them into place.
4
00:27:54,010 --> 00:27:57,490
Dozens of men riveting them together in real time.
5
00:27:57,650 --> 00:28:01,530
And here, a powerful winch, operated by ten men,
6
00:28:01,690 --> 00:28:04,970
cranking it round and pulling the bridge forward.
7
00:28:08,210 --> 00:28:12,370
Incredibly, thousands of tonnes of steel would have been on the move,
8
00:28:12,530 --> 00:28:15,730
creeping out at up to six inches a minute,
9
00:28:15,890 --> 00:28:19,690
so, literally, the bridge would have been pushed out over that bank there,
10
00:28:19,850 --> 00:28:22,690
as life went on as normal down below.
11
00:27:46,730 --> 00:27:48,050
Imagine the scene -
12
00:28:24,930 --> 00:28:28,850
it would meet one of these sturdy, steel vertical supports.
13
00:28:30,770 --> 00:28:33,690
On top of those pillars were more bearings,
14
00:28:33,850 --> 00:28:35,530
and once the bridge reached them,
15
00:28:35,690 --> 00:28:38,250
it simply rolled onwards towards the next set of supports
16
00:28:38,410 --> 00:28:40,570
some 30 metres further on.
17
00:28:45,170 --> 00:28:46,850
Key to every part of this bridge,
18
00:28:47,010 --> 00:28:51,930
from the approach roads to the high arches, are rivets.
19
00:28:52,090 --> 00:28:55,210
The whole structure relies on nearly a million of them
20
00:28:55,370 --> 00:28:57,210
to keep it together.
21
00:27:16,330 --> 00:27:19,370
without disturbing the businesses below.
22
00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:42,530
building the approach roads changed the way bridges were built.
23
00:26:42,690 --> 00:26:47,050
Employing a revolutionary technique called 'launching'.
24
00:26:55,370 --> 00:26:59,650
This is Lombard Street, one of the key areas of old Newcastle.
25
00:26:59,810 --> 00:27:02,290
Now, these buildings were here a good 60 years
26
00:27:02,450 --> 00:27:04,210
before the bridge was even thought about,
27
00:27:04,370 --> 00:27:07,890
and the people living here had no choice but to watch
28
00:27:08,050 --> 00:27:11,130
as the huge approaches slowly crept out
29
00:27:11,290 --> 00:27:13,250
over the top of their homes.
30
00:27:13,410 --> 00:27:16,170
As with the arches, the aim here was to build the approaches
31
00:28:58,210 --> 00:29:01,410
A rivet is no more than a mushroom-shaped steel peg.
32
00:27:19,530 --> 00:27:21,970
And it's all down to the way they were constructed.
33
00:27:22,130 --> 00:27:24,730
Essentially, they're two huge steel beams,
34
00:27:24,890 --> 00:27:27,410
held apart by those smaller cross pieces.
35
00:27:28,490 --> 00:27:32,170
Like everything else on the bridge, they were built on site.
36
00:27:33,250 --> 00:27:35,730
This is where the ones on the Gateshead side were built.
37
00:27:35,890 --> 00:27:37,410
But instead of being built on the ground,
38
00:27:37,570 --> 00:27:40,130
these were built on massive rollers.
39
00:27:40,290 --> 00:27:43,810
That meant the beams could be rolled forward as they were constructed.
40
00:27:43,970 --> 00:27:46,570
Literally, pushed out over the drop.
41
00:30:38,330 --> 00:30:41,370
someone would man the fire and then throw them up where they
42
00:30:15,850 --> 00:30:18,410
Before they can be hammered in, the rivets need to be heated up
43
00:30:18,570 --> 00:30:22,250
to an incredible 1,000 degrees Centigrade.
44
00:30:22,410 --> 00:30:24,570
Doug uses a modern induction heater,
45
00:30:24,730 --> 00:30:27,890
but in the 1920s it was far more basic.
46
00:30:28,050 --> 00:30:30,050
'Cause this must've been dangerous work, then?
47
00:30:30,210 --> 00:30:31,530
Very dangerous work.
48
00:30:31,690 --> 00:30:34,450
So they wouldn't have used this when they were building the Tyne Bridge?
49
00:30:34,610 --> 00:30:35,970
No, they would use a grazer.
50
00:30:36,130 --> 00:30:38,170
When it heated up to around 1,000 degrees Cs,
51
00:30:12,530 --> 00:30:14,290
..a second of pressing the button.
52
00:30:41,530 --> 00:30:43,530
would be either caught in a bucket or caught by hand
53
00:30:43,690 --> 00:30:46,810
and then placed in the steelwork before being riveted up.
54
00:30:46,970 --> 00:30:49,850
So they chucked these things at around 1,000 degrees C?
55
00:30:50,010 --> 00:30:51,690
Yeah. Flippin' heck!
56
00:30:53,450 --> 00:30:57,490
So when I'm on that rivet gun, any tips? Just hold it down?
57
00:30:57,650 --> 00:31:00,530
Just hold it down and gently... Don't let it kick back too much.
58
00:31:00,690 --> 00:31:04,290
Just hold it down and sort of go in a circular motion.
59
00:31:04,450 --> 00:31:06,570
Whoa! Look at that.
60
00:31:06,730 --> 00:31:08,810
Right, you can feel the heat off that.
61
00:29:45,410 --> 00:29:48,330
The firm specialises in restoring old structures
62
00:29:01,570 --> 00:29:05,650
Heated white-hot, it's pushed into a hole drilled through the steel,
63
00:29:05,810 --> 00:29:07,970
to be joined together.
64
00:29:08,130 --> 00:29:11,770
Then, powerful hammers form a second head.
65
00:29:11,930 --> 00:29:15,810
As it cools, the rivet pulls the two parts of the metal together,
66
00:29:15,970 --> 00:29:19,370
forming a bond almost as strong as a modern weld.
67
00:29:33,090 --> 00:29:36,530
The Tyne Bridge was one of the last really big engineering projects
68
00:29:36,690 --> 00:29:38,890
to use these things, rivets.
69
00:29:39,050 --> 00:29:41,930
So I've come here to an engineering works just outside Newcastle,
70
00:29:42,090 --> 00:29:43,570
to find out more about them.
71
00:26:36,810 --> 00:26:38,570
Just like the great arches,
72
00:29:48,490 --> 00:29:52,290
like the Tyne Bridge and is run by Doug Judd.
73
00:29:52,450 --> 00:29:54,890
So, Doug, any chance you can show me the whole riveting process?
74
00:29:55,050 --> 00:29:57,250
How they built the Tyne Bridge? Yes, I can, actually.
75
00:29:57,410 --> 00:29:58,730
How we do it by modern standards.
76
00:29:58,890 --> 00:30:02,050
This is the first process, to heat up the rivets. To heat the rivets, yeah.
77
00:30:02,210 --> 00:30:05,490
This is what you use here now, and this is what, sorry? This is an induction heater.
78
00:30:05,650 --> 00:30:07,730
If we press this button here,
79
00:30:07,890 --> 00:30:09,890
it shows you how long it takes to heat the rivet up.
80
00:30:10,050 --> 00:30:12,370
Wow, we've got smoke coming off the rivet here within...
81
00:23:13,290 --> 00:23:14,610
Wow.
82
00:22:49,290 --> 00:22:53,050
His grandson, Bob Collins, still lives in the city
83
00:22:53,210 --> 00:22:56,890
and remembers the impact Nathaniel's death had on the family.
84
00:22:57,050 --> 00:22:58,650
Hello there. Hey, I'm Rob.
85
00:22:58,810 --> 00:23:00,250
Bob. Hello there, Rob. Nice to meet you.
86
00:23:00,410 --> 00:23:02,090
Welcome, come on in. Thank you.
87
00:23:03,770 --> 00:23:06,290
There's the grandfather, there.
88
00:23:06,450 --> 00:23:08,010
Do you have some more photos of Nathaniel?
89
00:23:08,170 --> 00:23:10,130
Well, all I've got is...
90
00:23:10,290 --> 00:23:13,130
Actually, there he is in his Light Infantry uniform.
91
00:22:40,890 --> 00:22:44,290
but the only one who didn't recover from his injuries.
92
00:23:14,770 --> 00:23:16,930
This was from First World War? Yes.
93
00:23:18,730 --> 00:23:23,010
That was an article about when he fell off...
94
00:23:23,170 --> 00:23:24,930
There he is, Nathaniel, scaffolder...
95
00:23:25,090 --> 00:23:27,370
Yes, scaffolder.
96
00:23:27,530 --> 00:23:31,890
"Fell at about 175 feet above the river
97
00:23:32,050 --> 00:23:36,010
"and watchers gasped as he tumbled off the bridge."
98
00:23:36,170 --> 00:23:39,970
His body hit the foot... That's the bottom of the bridge there,
99
00:23:40,130 --> 00:23:43,850
and bounced off that and he went in the river.
100
00:23:44,010 --> 00:23:49,090
But he died of a fractured skull... Yeah.
101
00:22:00,530 --> 00:22:03,730
and this is a newspaper article from the Northern Daily Mail,
102
00:21:30,010 --> 00:21:34,170
working at heights of up to 200 feet, without any protection whatsoever.
103
00:21:34,330 --> 00:21:38,010
Deaths on constructions like this were taken as part of the job,
104
00:21:38,170 --> 00:21:40,450
but the Tyne Bridge seemed blessed.
105
00:21:40,610 --> 00:21:43,850
The monkeys working up on the high beams seemed invincible
106
00:21:44,010 --> 00:21:46,850
and dozens of people would regularly gather down below
107
00:21:47,010 --> 00:21:48,730
to watch as they scampered about.
108
00:21:51,010 --> 00:21:54,890
But just six days before the great arch was completed,
109
00:21:55,050 --> 00:21:58,530
those crowds saw something they'd never forget.
110
00:21:58,690 --> 00:22:00,370
According to the accounts at the time,
111
00:23:49,250 --> 00:23:52,530
And then the policemen and one of the staff
112
00:22:03,890 --> 00:22:07,530
on the morning of Saturday 18 February, 1928,
113
00:22:07,690 --> 00:22:12,650
a scaffold erector by the name of Nathaniel Collins, aged just 33,
114
00:22:12,810 --> 00:22:15,130
was walking along one of those beams
115
00:22:15,290 --> 00:22:21,610
when he lost his footing and fell into the river, some 175 feet below.
116
00:22:24,690 --> 00:22:28,890
Incredibly, he surfaced alive and was pulled out by a boatman
117
00:22:29,050 --> 00:22:32,850
employed by Dorman Long for exactly that purpose.
118
00:22:34,130 --> 00:22:35,650
According to the newspapers,
119
00:22:35,810 --> 00:22:38,930
Nathaniel Collins was the 57th man who'd fallen in
120
00:22:39,090 --> 00:22:40,730
and had had to be rescued,
121
00:25:47,210 --> 00:25:50,850
all its weight being taken down through the hinges, onto each bank.
122
00:25:07,970 --> 00:25:10,410
the last parts were lowered into position.
123
00:25:11,970 --> 00:25:14,570
But the gap was still not closed.
124
00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:19,650
From the start of construction,
125
00:25:19,810 --> 00:25:23,610
each half of the arch had been held up by great cables
126
00:25:23,770 --> 00:25:26,050
attached to winches at each side of the bank.
127
00:25:28,050 --> 00:25:30,610
Now those cables were slackened
128
00:25:30,770 --> 00:25:34,570
and both halves pivoted on their huge hinges until they met,
129
00:25:34,730 --> 00:25:37,730
almost 200 feet above the Tyne.
130
00:25:43,090 --> 00:25:47,050
From that moment on, the bridge became self-supporting,
131
00:25:04,810 --> 00:25:07,810
just a few days after Nathaniel Collins' death,
132
00:25:53,570 --> 00:25:56,050
Today, the steel arches over the river
133
00:25:56,210 --> 00:25:58,610
are as solid as they were 90 years ago.
134
00:26:00,810 --> 00:26:03,050
But building these massive arches...
135
00:26:04,370 --> 00:26:06,490
..was only half the story.
136
00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:21,530
Now, this central span is 161 metres,
137
00:26:21,690 --> 00:26:23,410
but on either side are the approach bands,
138
00:26:23,570 --> 00:26:27,970
each over 100 metres long, and supported by steel pillars.
139
00:26:28,130 --> 00:26:30,290
And building those was almost as difficult
140
00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:32,370
as building the bit over the river.
141
00:24:19,610 --> 00:24:24,650
But there was only one man killed and that was him, unfortunately.
142
00:23:52,690 --> 00:23:57,370
came to tell my nanna in the afternoon and that was that.
143
00:23:57,530 --> 00:23:59,170
End of a life.
144
00:23:59,330 --> 00:24:01,770
She was left with four children to bring up
145
00:24:01,930 --> 00:24:04,290
but she never married again.
146
00:24:04,450 --> 00:24:06,170
She was...
147
00:24:07,730 --> 00:24:10,290
She wasn't too fond of the bridge, and that's a fact.
148
00:24:10,450 --> 00:24:14,370
She hated the bridge as well, you know, for what it did to the family.
149
00:24:15,850 --> 00:24:17,170
Very sad.
150
00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:19,450
That's very tragic, Bob. Yes.
151
00:31:08,970 --> 00:31:12,130
This is not dissimilar to a kind of gun they would've used...
152
00:24:24,810 --> 00:24:26,130
Yep.
153
00:24:26,290 --> 00:24:27,970
So, how does it make you feel,
154
00:24:28,130 --> 00:24:30,930
whenever you see the Tyne Bridge or walk across it, even?
155
00:24:31,090 --> 00:24:35,250
You think of him every time? Yes. Every single time. Yeah.
156
00:24:45,530 --> 00:24:50,210
Despite the fatality, work on the Tyne Bridge continued at pace.
157
00:24:51,570 --> 00:24:55,370
For three years, great cranes had been inching out over the waters,
158
00:24:55,530 --> 00:24:58,450
lifting 8,000 tonnes of steel into place.
159
00:25:00,810 --> 00:25:04,650
Finally, on 23 February, 1928,
160
00:39:17,530 --> 00:39:21,890
I...I can't really believe it, it's all gone.
161
00:38:47,130 --> 00:38:49,890
and witnessed the industry's fatal decline.
162
00:38:51,050 --> 00:38:53,930
30,000 workers, when I was there. Aye.
163
00:38:54,090 --> 00:38:56,770
I mean, when I first started, there were 600 apprentices...
164
00:38:56,930 --> 00:38:59,530
Aye, aye. ..taken on each year. Aye.
165
00:38:59,690 --> 00:39:02,810
And that just petered out as the years went by. Wow, wow, wow.
166
00:39:02,970 --> 00:39:04,770
600. 600 apprentices.
167
00:39:04,930 --> 00:39:10,010
That number, 30,000, to then suddenly not have employment...
168
00:39:10,170 --> 00:39:12,130
It slowly just dwindled away.
169
00:39:12,290 --> 00:39:15,730
So, how does it make you feel to look at this site now?
170
00:38:43,250 --> 00:38:46,970
Both John Ashburner and his father worked for Swan Hunter
171
00:39:22,050 --> 00:39:24,050
But I knew it would get less and less,
172
00:39:24,210 --> 00:39:27,130
but there's none at all now, shipyards on the Tyne.
173
00:39:27,290 --> 00:39:30,290
You'd never think in my lifetime you wouldn't see a ship being built.
174
00:39:30,450 --> 00:39:32,730
Really, just unimaginable, when you were there
175
00:39:32,890 --> 00:39:34,490
with the amount of activity down there.
176
00:39:34,650 --> 00:39:36,370
Job for life, you know.
177
00:39:36,530 --> 00:39:39,530
And how quickly things changed. Thousands being laid off.
178
00:39:41,690 --> 00:39:45,290
It's sad to see it just sat here like this now, isn't it?
179
00:39:49,450 --> 00:39:51,730
Tyneside's shipbuilding industry,
180
00:37:48,010 --> 00:37:49,810
It's sad.
181
00:37:21,090 --> 00:37:23,050
And from the top of the towers,
182
00:37:23,210 --> 00:37:24,530
you get a really good idea
183
00:37:24,690 --> 00:37:28,490
of how much the River Tyne has transformed over the years.
184
00:37:28,650 --> 00:37:30,250
Look at that view.
185
00:37:31,730 --> 00:37:33,050
The Tyne I'm looking at,
186
00:37:33,210 --> 00:37:37,490
the Tyne this bridge has stood over for almost 90 years,
187
00:37:37,650 --> 00:37:39,370
has completely changed.
188
00:37:39,530 --> 00:37:41,770
When this bridge was first built,
189
00:37:41,930 --> 00:37:46,370
almost every inch of the riverbanks would have been covered in shipyards.
190
00:39:51,890 --> 00:39:55,290
which the building of the Tyne Bridge had desperately tried to protect,
191
00:37:51,410 --> 00:37:53,650
For over 150 years,
192
00:37:53,810 --> 00:37:56,410
thousands of ships were launched from the yards
193
00:37:56,570 --> 00:38:00,130
that once stretched over 11 miles along the River Tyne.
194
00:38:00,290 --> 00:38:06,250
The most famous company, Swan Hunter, used to provide a job for life.
195
00:38:07,490 --> 00:38:12,130
The huge ships they built once towering over the city streets.
196
00:38:18,570 --> 00:38:21,610
But in 2006 it was all over.
197
00:38:23,890 --> 00:38:30,090
In April that year, this ship, the RFA Largs Bay, left the Tyne.
198
00:38:30,250 --> 00:38:32,890
And its builders, the mighty Swan Hunters,
199
00:38:33,050 --> 00:38:36,250
closed its doors forever.
200
00:42:06,450 --> 00:42:08,330
See that bridge, it just...
201
00:41:23,650 --> 00:41:26,330
The last of those built in 2001, this...
202
00:41:26,490 --> 00:41:29,970
..the incredible Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
203
00:41:35,570 --> 00:41:38,130
Known locally as the Blinking Eye,
204
00:41:38,290 --> 00:41:43,930
this 21st-century bridge is a celebration of a new, cool Newcastle.
205
00:41:45,770 --> 00:41:50,370
One where the old quaysides are now packed with hip bars,
206
00:41:50,530 --> 00:41:52,930
restaurants, and stunning modern architecture.
207
00:41:54,010 --> 00:41:57,130
But at the end of the day, there will only be one bridge
208
00:41:57,290 --> 00:42:00,250
that truly embodies this part of the world.
209
00:42:02,490 --> 00:42:06,290
I think the Tyne Bridge means, when you see it, that you're coming home.
210
00:41:19,490 --> 00:41:23,490
another six bridges have spanned the river to deal with the city's growth.
211
00:42:08,490 --> 00:42:10,850
..it just makes you feel that you're back at home.
212
00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:13,530
And everybody says the same, we just love it.
213
00:42:20,930 --> 00:42:22,930
Throughout all those changes,
214
00:42:23,090 --> 00:42:26,530
this bridge, the Tyne Bridge, remains an icon,
215
00:42:26,690 --> 00:42:29,930
a testament to the skill and determination of the Geordies.
216
00:42:30,090 --> 00:42:31,810
You only have to mention it to people round here
217
00:42:31,970 --> 00:42:33,850
to see how proud they are.
218
00:42:34,010 --> 00:42:37,210
And in my view, they've every right to be so.
219
00:43:01,090 --> 00:43:09,950
Captions by Ericsson Access Services (c) SBS Australia 2017
220
00:40:37,850 --> 00:40:41,290
For me, the fact that this bridge is now one of the most successful
221
00:39:55,450 --> 00:39:57,850
was finally given the death blow
222
00:39:58,010 --> 00:40:01,010
when the last great cranes at the Swan Hunter yard
223
00:40:01,170 --> 00:40:04,210
were demolished in June, 2010.
224
00:40:04,370 --> 00:40:06,210
(LOUD BANG, RUMBLING)
225
00:40:06,370 --> 00:40:09,370
(SQUEAKING, LOUD BANG)
226
00:40:19,970 --> 00:40:26,010
But as the industry on the Tyne declined, nature quickly moved in.
227
00:40:27,970 --> 00:40:31,050
One of the most telling indicators of the scale of change here
228
00:40:31,210 --> 00:40:34,130
is not the number of empty hardhats further downstream,
229
00:40:34,290 --> 00:40:37,690
but these little guys here, kittiwakes.
230
00:37:19,450 --> 00:37:20,930
Made it.
231
00:40:41,450 --> 00:40:43,490
breeding grounds for kittiwakes in the country
232
00:40:43,650 --> 00:40:47,170
shows just how much change this bridge has seen.
233
00:40:49,250 --> 00:40:53,530
The first pair of kittiwakes nested on the bridge in 1997.
234
00:40:53,690 --> 00:40:57,090
Now, there are over 700.
235
00:40:58,130 --> 00:41:02,490
But the Tyneside they fly over is far from dead.
236
00:41:02,650 --> 00:41:06,210
Its population is now again growing fast.
237
00:41:08,010 --> 00:41:10,610
The heavy industries may have all but disappeared,
238
00:41:10,770 --> 00:41:16,730
but 21st-century high-tech Newcastle is buzzing with energy and optimism.
239
00:41:17,890 --> 00:41:19,330
Since the Tyne Bridge was built,
240
00:33:14,290 --> 00:33:19,930
and the recent difficulties so justly deserve.
241
00:32:32,890 --> 00:32:36,650
causing both a design and structural nightmare.
242
00:32:36,810 --> 00:32:40,970
The men risking their necks, six days a week, hundreds of feet up,
243
00:32:41,130 --> 00:32:45,290
often in gales and rain blowing in off the North Sea,
244
00:32:45,450 --> 00:32:48,810
but somehow the Geordies managed it.
245
00:32:50,610 --> 00:32:53,010
And on the 10 October, 1928,
246
00:32:53,170 --> 00:32:57,610
the bridge was officially opened by King George and his wife, Queen Mary.
247
00:32:59,050 --> 00:33:04,010
It is my earnest hope that this notable improvement
248
00:33:04,170 --> 00:33:10,850
may help to bring back to your city the full tide of prosperity
249
00:33:11,010 --> 00:33:14,130
which your courage and patience
250
00:32:29,890 --> 00:32:32,730
The government clause saying it had to be built from above,
251
00:33:20,090 --> 00:33:25,850
I have much pleasure in declaring the Tyne Bridge open
252
00:33:26,010 --> 00:33:28,090
for the use of the public.
253
00:33:28,250 --> 00:33:33,170
But despite the pomp and ceremony and the years of hard graft,
254
00:33:33,330 --> 00:33:36,530
the multi-million pound gamble didn't work.
255
00:33:36,690 --> 00:33:40,050
The North East was still in deep trouble.
256
00:33:40,210 --> 00:33:44,210
By 1931, just a few years after the bridge was completed,
257
00:33:44,370 --> 00:33:49,250
14 yards on the Tyne had closed, including the mighty Palmers,
258
00:33:49,410 --> 00:33:52,250
who'd launched over 1,000 ships.
259
00:33:58,930 --> 00:34:00,850
As a means of keeping the men of Tyneside
260
00:31:42,010 --> 00:31:44,650
Yeah, I guess if you're doing that...
261
00:31:12,290 --> 00:31:13,770
Yeah, exactly the same.
262
00:31:13,930 --> 00:31:15,250
..building the Tyne?
263
00:31:15,410 --> 00:31:17,010
Right, let's get that down. Go for it.
264
00:31:17,170 --> 00:31:19,330
Am I going? Away you go.
265
00:31:20,610 --> 00:31:22,330
OK, here we go.
266
00:31:29,730 --> 00:31:31,370
Is that alright? Nice work, yeah.
267
00:31:31,530 --> 00:31:33,010
Ah, look at that!
268
00:31:36,290 --> 00:31:39,370
I'm quite proud of that. That looks great.
269
00:31:39,530 --> 00:31:41,850
Good job. Ah, thanks, Doug.
270
00:34:01,010 --> 00:34:02,490
employed and off the streets,
271
00:31:44,810 --> 00:31:46,490
I mean, I guess, what, 100 a day?
272
00:31:46,650 --> 00:31:49,370
I would not like to try putting in 100 a day.
273
00:31:49,530 --> 00:31:52,370
But when they were back building the bridge, they would've done, what?
274
00:31:52,530 --> 00:31:55,210
They would have done 100 a day easily, without a doubt.
275
00:32:11,290 --> 00:32:14,530
After my brief apprenticeship as a riveter,
276
00:32:14,690 --> 00:32:17,050
I cannot help but have a huge amount of respect
277
00:32:17,210 --> 00:32:18,850
for the men who built this bridge.
278
00:32:23,850 --> 00:32:26,530
Of all the bridges in Britain, building the Tyne Bridge
279
00:32:26,690 --> 00:32:29,730
must've been one of the toughest assignments going.
280
00:36:40,770 --> 00:36:42,090
Lifts were even installed
281
00:36:02,250 --> 00:36:04,530
serving industry on the River Tyne,
282
00:36:04,690 --> 00:36:08,170
industry everyone hoped would boom again like the old days.
283
00:36:08,330 --> 00:36:11,330
I mean, just look at this place, it's cavernous,
284
00:36:11,490 --> 00:36:13,610
and not at all what you'd expect from the outside.
285
00:36:23,690 --> 00:36:26,250
The hope was that once the bridge was built,
286
00:36:26,410 --> 00:36:30,450
the recession would be over and Tyneside would return to its role
287
00:36:30,610 --> 00:36:33,490
as the great manufacturing hub of the North East.
288
00:36:33,650 --> 00:36:37,490
These towers would be packed with five floors of merchandise,
289
00:36:37,650 --> 00:36:40,610
waiting to be transported around the country.
290
00:35:59,410 --> 00:36:02,090
These towers were meant to be vast warehouses
291
00:36:42,250 --> 00:36:46,010
to carry the goods up and down from the quayside.
292
00:36:46,170 --> 00:36:51,250
But it was not to be and these warehouses were never even finished.
293
00:36:52,490 --> 00:36:55,330
It really is quite spooky up here.
294
00:36:55,490 --> 00:36:58,770
The echo of the voice, the constant rumbling of traffic,
295
00:36:58,930 --> 00:37:01,370
the birds flapping about.
296
00:37:01,530 --> 00:37:03,730
It's such an empty void.
297
00:37:03,890 --> 00:37:06,610
They never even got to putting the floors in.
298
00:37:06,770 --> 00:37:09,850
And since then, it's just been gathering dust.
299
00:37:13,170 --> 00:37:14,650
Whoo.
300
00:34:59,090 --> 00:35:00,770
Symbol of the North East,
301
00:34:02,650 --> 00:34:04,090
building the bridge helped for a while,
302
00:34:04,250 --> 00:34:06,010
but it didn't bring the old time back to life.
303
00:34:06,170 --> 00:34:08,810
In fact, you can even see evidence of its death
304
00:34:08,970 --> 00:34:11,050
inside the bridge tower here.
305
00:34:11,210 --> 00:34:14,730
The towers on either side of the bridge are normally locked,
306
00:34:14,890 --> 00:34:18,770
but we've been given special access to show you inside.
307
00:34:21,250 --> 00:34:24,050
Because it's in here that you can clearly see
308
00:34:24,210 --> 00:34:25,810
why the building of the Tyne Bridge
309
00:34:25,970 --> 00:34:29,850
marked the beginning of the end of Newcastle's golden age.
310
00:21:25,690 --> 00:21:29,850
For four years thousands of people laboured to build this bridge,
311
00:35:00,930 --> 00:35:04,610
the Tyne Bridge has stood above the river for almost 90 years.
312
00:35:06,610 --> 00:35:08,610
Built in the depression of the 1920s,
313
00:35:08,770 --> 00:35:13,330
it's role was not just to take traffic across the busy river below,
314
00:35:13,490 --> 00:35:17,010
but to help boost employment and keep the engineering skills
315
00:35:17,170 --> 00:35:20,570
of the North East alive, until its industries boomed again.
316
00:35:26,210 --> 00:35:28,730
Sadly, that never happened,
317
00:35:28,890 --> 00:35:31,370
and the bridge itself stands testament
318
00:35:31,530 --> 00:35:34,130
to just how much Newcastle has changed.
319
00:07:08,650 --> 00:07:11,130
not just keeping families out of poverty,
320
00:06:27,610 --> 00:06:29,810
As protests swept the rest of the country,
321
00:06:29,970 --> 00:06:33,050
the government of the day was terrified trouble was brewing
322
00:06:33,210 --> 00:06:35,130
in the North East.
323
00:06:35,290 --> 00:06:38,730
In a bid to protect one of the country's most important industries,
324
00:06:38,890 --> 00:06:42,170
the first Labour prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald,
325
00:06:42,330 --> 00:06:44,610
came up with a radical plan -
326
00:06:44,770 --> 00:06:47,410
building the Tyne Bridge.
327
00:07:00,450 --> 00:07:05,170
By using the skills of Tyneside's unemployed riveters and steelworkers,
328
00:07:05,330 --> 00:07:08,490
the bridge would serve as a massive employment scheme,
329
00:06:20,450 --> 00:06:25,090
And unemployment among the Regent ship builders was as high as 40%.
330
00:07:11,290 --> 00:07:15,410
but keeping alive those essential shipbuilding skills it was hoped
331
00:07:15,570 --> 00:07:20,370
would once again be needed when the great recession was finally over.
332
00:07:25,210 --> 00:07:27,050
To make sure the plan happened,
333
00:07:27,210 --> 00:07:30,010
the government put up over half the cost of the new bridge -
334
00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:33,890
around £40 million in today's money.
335
00:07:34,050 --> 00:07:37,330
With money on the table, the local council acted fast.
336
00:07:37,490 --> 00:07:42,010
The entire design and contracting process taking just ten months.
337
00:07:46,850 --> 00:07:49,530
The bidding process to win the job
338
00:07:49,690 --> 00:07:53,250
became a battle between two of the North East's industrial giants.
339
00:05:48,050 --> 00:05:50,290
the men of the North East returned from the trenches
340
00:05:17,370 --> 00:05:20,970
that finally prompted the building of the Tyne Bridge,
341
00:05:21,130 --> 00:05:23,130
it was a far bigger problem.
342
00:05:25,490 --> 00:05:28,610
These great arches have been linking Newcastle and Gateshead
343
00:05:28,770 --> 00:05:30,490
for almost 90 years now
344
00:05:30,650 --> 00:05:33,530
but it's not just a bridge joining two sides of the river.
345
00:05:33,690 --> 00:05:36,690
For all its magnificence, stone and steel work,
346
00:05:36,850 --> 00:05:39,290
this bridge was, in fact, a political bridge,
347
00:05:39,450 --> 00:05:42,130
built in part to keep the country from falling to pieces.
348
00:05:44,610 --> 00:05:47,890
In 1918, when World War I ended,
349
00:07:54,890 --> 00:07:56,290
A favourite to win was
350
00:05:50,450 --> 00:05:54,290
to what they hoped would be a land fit for heroes.
351
00:05:54,450 --> 00:05:58,170
Instead, many of them found themselves out of work
352
00:05:58,330 --> 00:06:00,650
and barely able to feed their families.
353
00:06:00,810 --> 00:06:03,170
(BABY CRIES)
354
00:06:05,650 --> 00:06:08,210
The war had caused a global downturn in trade.
355
00:06:08,370 --> 00:06:10,090
The coal mines cut wages
356
00:06:10,250 --> 00:06:13,650
and there were few new orders for the shipyards.
357
00:06:13,810 --> 00:06:16,010
By the early 1920s,
358
00:06:16,170 --> 00:06:19,290
over a third of the Tyneside shipyards had closed down.
359
00:10:08,090 --> 00:10:11,730
forced its engineers to rewrite the rulebook.
360
00:09:16,570 --> 00:09:19,210
from where the Tyne Bridge was to be built,
361
00:09:19,370 --> 00:09:21,130
and nothing was allowed to interfere
362
00:09:21,290 --> 00:09:24,050
with boats heading to and from the factory,
363
00:09:24,210 --> 00:09:27,050
not even the much-needed Tyne Bridge.
364
00:09:27,210 --> 00:09:31,170
So Dorman Long's engineers were faced with a massive problem -
365
00:09:31,330 --> 00:09:37,210
how to build an 8,000 tonne steel bridge 170 feet in the air,
366
00:09:37,370 --> 00:09:39,770
without affecting the river below.
367
00:09:48,490 --> 00:09:54,690
The solution would push the company's engineers to their limits.
368
00:10:03,410 --> 00:10:07,930
In 1925, building Newcastle's iconic Tyne Bridge
369
00:09:13,170 --> 00:09:16,410
Armstrong Whitworth was situated just upstream
370
00:10:11,890 --> 00:10:15,250
The incredible 8,000 tonne steel structure
371
00:10:15,410 --> 00:10:18,930
was built using techniques never tried before
372
00:10:19,090 --> 00:10:22,530
and the reason lay in the Tyne River itself.
373
00:10:24,370 --> 00:10:28,650
Although the aftermath of World War I had triggered a nationwide recession,
374
00:10:28,810 --> 00:10:32,970
the River Tyne was still a vital artery for the nation's trade.
375
00:10:38,170 --> 00:10:41,090
And because that river traffic was so important,
376
00:10:41,250 --> 00:10:45,410
Parliament ruled that it couldn't be disrupted in any way.
377
00:10:47,410 --> 00:10:50,330
If the constructors, Dorman Long, were to succeed,
378
00:10:50,490 --> 00:10:54,610
they needed to find a whole new approach to bridge building.
379
00:08:30,570 --> 00:08:32,570
it was a construction company too,
380
00:07:56,450 --> 00:07:59,010
the engineering firm of Armstrong Whitworth,
381
00:07:59,170 --> 00:08:01,890
then one the biggest employers in Newcastle.
382
00:08:02,050 --> 00:08:04,250
Armstrongs, who'd already built the Swing Bridge there,
383
00:08:04,410 --> 00:08:06,570
bid for the contract to build it,
384
00:08:06,730 --> 00:08:11,330
but their bid of nearly £750,000 was just too expensive.
385
00:08:11,490 --> 00:08:13,850
Instead the contract went to Dorman Long.
386
00:08:18,090 --> 00:08:21,210
Based just a few miles south of Newcastle, in Middlesbrough,
387
00:08:21,370 --> 00:08:25,010
Dorman Long was one of the biggest steel manufacturers in the world.
388
00:08:26,650 --> 00:08:30,410
But Dorman Long wasn't just a steel manufacturer,
389
00:05:15,530 --> 00:05:17,210
But it wasn't queuing Geordies
390
00:08:32,730 --> 00:08:36,250
using its steel to build bridges throughout the Empire.
391
00:08:38,610 --> 00:08:42,770
But despite its vast experience building big and complicated bridges
392
00:08:42,930 --> 00:08:46,530
in far flung places like Egypt and Zimbabwe,
393
00:08:46,690 --> 00:08:51,370
the Tyne Bridge was to be the steel company's greatest ever challenge.
394
00:08:52,690 --> 00:08:55,890
And the reason was down to Dorman Long's original competitor
395
00:08:56,050 --> 00:08:59,330
for the construction contract - Armstrong Whitworth.
396
00:09:01,290 --> 00:09:05,690
Central to this industrial empire, founded by William Armstrong,
397
00:09:05,850 --> 00:09:09,290
was one of the most important munitions works in the land.
398
00:09:09,450 --> 00:09:13,010
Supplying huge guns to the British Army and Navy,
399
00:02:04,930 --> 00:02:08,610
Eight thousand tonnes of solid steel and granite
400
00:01:33,810 --> 00:01:38,090
Once, the Tyne was the most important industrial river in the land.
401
00:01:38,250 --> 00:01:41,450
Millions of tonnes of coal would travel down it,
402
00:01:41,610 --> 00:01:43,730
powering the rest of the country.
403
00:01:43,890 --> 00:01:48,570
While along its banks, great shipyards constructed the ships
404
00:01:48,730 --> 00:01:50,930
that helped build the British Empire
405
00:01:51,090 --> 00:01:52,770
and put the North East on the map.
406
00:01:52,930 --> 00:01:54,450
But if you're a Geordie,
407
00:01:54,610 --> 00:01:58,330
it's not the River Tyne that reminds you of home, it's this...
408
00:01:58,490 --> 00:02:00,090
..the Tyne Bridge!
409
00:01:27,250 --> 00:01:30,530
Gateshead on the south, and Newcastle on the north side.
410
00:02:08,770 --> 00:02:10,570
that dominate the skyline.
411
00:02:10,730 --> 00:02:13,370
It might not be one of the biggest bridges in the world
412
00:02:13,530 --> 00:02:16,770
but it's definitely one of the most famous.
413
00:02:16,930 --> 00:02:20,130
This is such a striking piece of civil engineering on the landscape.
414
00:02:20,290 --> 00:02:21,770
It's just stunning.
415
00:02:23,010 --> 00:02:24,890
For the locals, the Geordies,
416
00:02:25,050 --> 00:02:29,490
this bridge symbolises everything that's great about the North East,
417
00:02:29,650 --> 00:02:33,730
because the Tyne Bridge is truly a local bridge.
418
00:02:37,530 --> 00:02:40,330
To understand why the Geordies love this bridge so much
419
00:00:36,970 --> 00:00:40,210
..and the sweat and sacrifice that went into their constructions.
420
00:00:06,810 --> 00:00:10,210
have not only linked our island, but made it great.
421
00:00:10,370 --> 00:00:13,370
These are the bridges that are known around the world,
422
00:00:13,530 --> 00:00:16,930
built by visionaries like Stephenson and Brunel,
423
00:00:17,090 --> 00:00:19,330
who are famous, even today.
424
00:00:20,730 --> 00:00:22,530
Look at this!
425
00:00:22,690 --> 00:00:25,570
From the banks of the Tyne to the mighty Thames,
426
00:00:25,730 --> 00:00:27,690
from the Firth of Forth to the Menai Strait...
427
00:00:30,410 --> 00:00:34,850
..I'm on a journey to discover how those great bridges were built...
428
00:00:35,010 --> 00:00:36,810
Here we go.
429
00:02:40,490 --> 00:02:42,930
you only have to look out across the landscape.
430
00:00:40,370 --> 00:00:42,250
Stopping traffic.
431
00:00:42,410 --> 00:00:46,370
I'll uncover the huge egos, flawed geniuses and jealous rivalries
432
00:00:46,530 --> 00:00:48,450
behind their creation.
433
00:00:48,610 --> 00:00:51,490
It's as if he'd been airbrushed from the whole story.
434
00:00:53,690 --> 00:00:56,770
These are Britain's Greatest Bridges.
435
00:00:59,450 --> 00:01:01,650
(HELICOPTER WHIRRS OVERHEAD)
436
00:01:17,530 --> 00:01:20,410
This is the mouth of the River Tyne,
437
00:01:20,570 --> 00:01:24,130
but over 100km long, it's the artery that pumped life
438
00:01:24,290 --> 00:01:27,090
into two of England's greatest industrial centres -
439
00:04:37,930 --> 00:04:41,330
It was built for what had become the London and North Eastern Railway
440
00:03:55,970 --> 00:03:58,770
Something that the North East is very, very proud of.
441
00:04:07,570 --> 00:04:12,810
The Tyne Bridge is by far the most famous bridge over the river.
442
00:04:12,970 --> 00:04:16,170
It's a bridge that re-wrote the engineering rulebook,
443
00:04:16,330 --> 00:04:20,250
and an icon men risked their lives to build.
444
00:04:22,690 --> 00:04:25,690
But it wasn't the first bridge to be built here.
445
00:04:25,850 --> 00:04:29,130
Back in the 1920s, when construction started,
446
00:04:29,290 --> 00:04:32,410
Newcastle already had two bridges.
447
00:04:32,570 --> 00:04:34,850
The advent of trains in the 1840s
448
00:04:35,010 --> 00:04:37,770
had brought Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge.
449
00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:55,810
MAN: I think it's the iconic image of Tyneside.
450
00:04:41,490 --> 00:04:43,530
and the trains still thunder across today.
451
00:04:43,690 --> 00:04:47,450
But it also carried trams and pedestrians on this road deck here,
452
00:04:47,610 --> 00:04:49,130
beneath the trains.
453
00:04:52,970 --> 00:04:56,970
And just a little further downstream is the Swing Bridge.
454
00:04:57,130 --> 00:04:59,250
Both did exactly what they were designed to do -
455
00:04:59,410 --> 00:05:02,090
get people and traffic across the Tyne
456
00:05:02,250 --> 00:05:04,130
without stopping shipping on the river.
457
00:05:05,570 --> 00:05:09,130
But with the Swing Bridge opening almost 20 times a day,
458
00:05:09,290 --> 00:05:12,570
Newcastle really needed a new bridge.
459
00:03:17,210 --> 00:03:20,090
This is a bridge more than any other
460
00:02:46,450 --> 00:02:50,570
Almost everything that built this bridge came from here.
461
00:02:52,930 --> 00:02:54,970
The refinery where all the steel was made
462
00:02:55,130 --> 00:02:57,210
was just an hour down the coast, at Redcar.
463
00:02:57,370 --> 00:02:59,690
The iron ore was mined from the Cleveland Hills,
464
00:02:59,850 --> 00:03:01,690
just 40 miles south from here.
465
00:03:01,850 --> 00:03:03,570
And the coal used to smelt it
466
00:03:03,730 --> 00:03:07,450
would have probably been mined just outside Gateshead, just over there.
467
00:03:10,170 --> 00:03:14,610
And the skilled labour that built it over a period of three years
468
00:03:14,770 --> 00:03:17,050
all came direct from the Tyneside shipyards.
469
00:10:58,530 --> 00:11:02,970
So how do you build a bridge like that, without clogging the river up,
470
00:03:20,250 --> 00:03:22,810
that embodies the story of the North East.
471
00:03:25,050 --> 00:03:26,650
And the rise...
472
00:03:26,810 --> 00:03:31,570
..and fall of one of our country's great industrial centres.
473
00:03:36,730 --> 00:03:40,050
Even now, 90 years after its construction,
474
00:03:40,210 --> 00:03:44,490
the Tyne Bridge stands as symbol of the pride and passion of the Geordies
475
00:03:44,650 --> 00:03:47,930
who built it and live with it.
476
00:03:48,090 --> 00:03:50,130
I absolutely love the Tyne Bridge.
477
00:03:50,290 --> 00:03:52,730
It reminds us of home and we just love it.
478
00:17:56,130 --> 00:17:59,850
which means they're good at resisting forces trying to squeeze them.
479
00:17:17,210 --> 00:17:21,050
made out of either wood or stone, like this one.
480
00:17:30,890 --> 00:17:34,890
But the Wylam Bridge was one of the first to be built of metal,
481
00:17:35,050 --> 00:17:36,610
hundreds of tonnes of it.
482
00:17:37,690 --> 00:17:42,090
Keeping the whole thing up is the principal of the arch,
483
00:17:42,250 --> 00:17:45,370
something bridge builders have relied on since before Roman times.
484
00:17:45,530 --> 00:17:47,290
Let me explain what I mean.
485
00:17:47,450 --> 00:17:50,210
And the materials used to build an arch bridge,
486
00:17:50,370 --> 00:17:53,690
be it wood, concrete, steel or stone,
487
00:17:53,850 --> 00:17:55,970
are all relatively strong in compression,
488
00:17:13,370 --> 00:17:17,050
Arch bridges have been built around the world for thousands of years,
489
00:18:00,010 --> 00:18:05,450
Now, if I build a very simple model beam bridge here.
490
00:18:05,610 --> 00:18:09,250
Here is my beam on my two supports on the side of the canoe.
491
00:18:09,410 --> 00:18:14,570
If I apply a force, a load, onto the top, the beam bends.
492
00:18:14,730 --> 00:18:18,490
The two ends come up and the middle goes down and the whole beam bends.
493
00:18:18,650 --> 00:18:22,810
And that bottom surface of the beam is what's called being in tension.
494
00:18:22,970 --> 00:18:24,290
It's being stretched.
495
00:18:24,450 --> 00:18:26,330
If I kept pushing and kept pushing,
496
00:18:26,490 --> 00:18:29,010
it would bend and stretch so much until it broke -
497
00:18:29,170 --> 00:18:31,450
the bridge would fail.
498
00:15:58,210 --> 00:16:02,330
one of many so-called through arch bridges built around 1900.
499
00:15:27,410 --> 00:15:31,330
His name appearing on the Tyne Bridge drawings at least suggests
500
00:15:31,490 --> 00:15:34,490
he was a consulting engineer on the Tyne Bridge project.
501
00:15:34,650 --> 00:15:36,290
So Freeman could be the reason
502
00:15:36,450 --> 00:15:39,010
as to why these two bridges look so similar.
503
00:15:43,330 --> 00:15:45,570
But, personally, I doubt it.
504
00:15:45,730 --> 00:15:49,330
Impressive as both bridges are, they're far from unique.
505
00:15:49,490 --> 00:15:52,810
20 years before the Tyne Bridge was built,
506
00:15:52,970 --> 00:15:55,410
New York had this.
507
00:15:56,610 --> 00:15:58,050
The Hell Gate Bridge -
508
00:18:31,610 --> 00:18:38,050
Now, instead, if I restrain the two ends and form an arch shape,
509
00:16:03,930 --> 00:16:07,210
But if you really want to find the inspiration for the Tyne Bridge,
510
00:16:07,370 --> 00:16:08,930
you don't have to cross an ocean,
511
00:16:09,090 --> 00:16:11,810
you simply have to travel a few miles upstream.
512
00:16:25,850 --> 00:16:30,210
It's a steel arch bridge called the Wylam Railway Bridge.
513
00:16:30,370 --> 00:16:36,130
Built in 1874, almost 50 years before the Tyne Bridge was designed,
514
00:16:36,290 --> 00:16:40,370
it's virtually identical to its cousin, just ten miles downstream.
515
00:17:04,130 --> 00:17:05,970
And key to both bridges' success
516
00:17:06,130 --> 00:17:09,370
is one of man's greatest engineering successes...
517
00:17:11,290 --> 00:17:13,210
..the arch.
518
00:20:25,650 --> 00:20:29,730
Thousands of former shipyard workers who risked life and limb
519
00:19:48,610 --> 00:19:51,090
behind the stone cladding of the tower here.
520
00:19:51,250 --> 00:19:56,730
No matter how many lorries pass above me, this bridge stands strong.
521
00:19:56,890 --> 00:20:00,490
Back in 1925, it was those great abutments that were
522
00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:02,890
the first stage of the arch to be built.
523
00:20:03,050 --> 00:20:06,850
But as the bridge moved upwards, things got a lot more complicated.
524
00:20:08,610 --> 00:20:13,610
Its engineers having to devise radical new construction techniques.
525
00:20:13,770 --> 00:20:16,530
Building the bridge downwards from the sky,
526
00:20:16,690 --> 00:20:20,570
allowing the all-important river traffic to flow freely underneath.
527
00:20:21,850 --> 00:20:25,490
But the real heroes were the men of the Tyne themselves.
528
00:19:46,450 --> 00:19:48,450
wedged firmly into the bank itself
529
00:20:29,890 --> 00:20:32,570
to create this engineering marvel.
530
00:20:32,730 --> 00:20:34,610
Back then, there was no safety gear.
531
00:20:34,770 --> 00:20:38,930
Your life depended on a steady sense of balance and a good run of luck.
532
00:20:39,090 --> 00:20:40,930
It was a tragedy waiting to happen.
533
00:20:41,090 --> 00:20:44,610
And on the 18 February, 1928, it did.
534
00:21:03,370 --> 00:21:06,010
For almost 90 years
535
00:21:06,170 --> 00:21:09,370
the Tyne Bridge has been the symbol of the North East.
536
00:21:11,810 --> 00:21:15,370
The men who built it were seen as heroes.
537
00:21:15,530 --> 00:21:20,170
Their skills symbolising the industrial might of the time.
538
00:19:09,690 --> 00:19:12,530
All the weight of the bridge being passed along the arch,
539
00:18:38,210 --> 00:18:41,130
as I put load on the top there, as I push down,
540
00:18:41,290 --> 00:18:43,370
the material here is in compression.
541
00:18:43,530 --> 00:18:46,450
It's resisting it well, as well. Agh!
542
00:18:46,610 --> 00:18:49,890
So the load I push down is carried out
543
00:18:50,050 --> 00:18:51,690
through the curves of the arch
544
00:18:51,850 --> 00:18:55,210
and down into our strong, solid anchor points at each end.
545
00:18:55,370 --> 00:18:58,410
And that's what makes an arch bridge so strong.
546
00:19:01,610 --> 00:19:05,210
Just like the Wylam Bridge, the Tyne Bridge looks the way it does
547
00:19:05,370 --> 00:19:08,250
because it exploits the same ancient structure.
548
00:15:24,610 --> 00:15:27,250
the company who designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
549
00:19:12,690 --> 00:19:14,290
down to the ground.
550
00:19:14,450 --> 00:19:17,850
So as long as the ends of the arch cannot move outward,
551
00:19:18,010 --> 00:19:21,010
the arch will stay super strong.
552
00:19:26,210 --> 00:19:29,410
This is the bottom of the Tyne Bridge's towering arch,
553
00:19:29,570 --> 00:19:31,850
here on the Newcastle side of the river.
554
00:19:32,010 --> 00:19:34,970
Thousands of tonnes of steel supporting a good chunk
555
00:19:35,130 --> 00:19:38,970
of Newcastle's busy traffic, day and night.
556
00:19:39,130 --> 00:19:42,770
But that traffic remains safe above me because the ends of the arch
557
00:19:42,930 --> 00:19:46,290
are supported by these anchor points, the abutments,
558
00:12:45,570 --> 00:12:49,170
Superficially, they do look similar.
559
00:12:14,410 --> 00:12:17,050
..Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge.
560
00:12:23,330 --> 00:12:24,730
They copied ours.
561
00:12:24,890 --> 00:12:26,410
This was here first and, yeah,
562
00:12:26,570 --> 00:12:28,570
as a city, we're very, very proud of it.
563
00:12:28,730 --> 00:12:32,490
It's as famous, if not more famous, than the Sydney Harbour Bridge,
564
00:12:32,650 --> 00:12:34,490
I would've thought, which is three times the size,
565
00:12:34,650 --> 00:12:38,090
but we think ours is the better of the two.
566
00:12:39,610 --> 00:12:41,730
But is there really any truth in the idea
567
00:12:41,890 --> 00:12:43,610
that the two bridges are connected?
568
00:12:09,130 --> 00:12:11,250
on the other side of the planet...
569
00:12:49,330 --> 00:12:51,490
Both are so-called 'through arches',
570
00:12:51,650 --> 00:12:53,130
with the bridge deck going through
571
00:12:53,290 --> 00:12:55,170
the arch, rather than on top.
572
00:12:57,250 --> 00:12:59,010
Both are constructed
573
00:12:59,170 --> 00:13:01,130
from great steel girders
574
00:13:01,290 --> 00:13:02,650
and both were built
575
00:13:02,810 --> 00:13:05,010
at roughly the same time.
576
00:13:05,170 --> 00:13:07,250
But is that just a coincidence?
577
00:13:11,490 --> 00:13:14,170
To find out, I've travelled 200 miles south,
578
00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:34,810
20-ton cranes were erected on top of the start of each arch,
579
00:11:03,130 --> 00:11:05,570
full of barges to hoist the steel up from?
580
00:11:05,730 --> 00:11:09,410
Well, the clue is at the end of the arches on each side.
581
00:11:11,490 --> 00:11:15,570
The entire weight of the arches rest on these round bearings.
582
00:11:15,730 --> 00:11:17,450
In effect, a simple hinge
583
00:11:17,610 --> 00:11:21,290
which allowed the whole bridge to be built from above, rather than below.
584
00:11:21,450 --> 00:11:25,210
Thick steel cables ran from the top of the arches
585
00:11:25,370 --> 00:11:27,370
to great winches on the banks,
586
00:11:27,530 --> 00:11:29,850
holding them up as they were gradually built outwards
587
00:11:30,010 --> 00:11:31,330
across the river.
588
00:13:14,330 --> 00:13:19,050
to the Institution of Civil Engineers in London.
589
00:11:34,970 --> 00:11:38,330
lifting beams from the bank and placing them out over the river,
590
00:11:38,490 --> 00:11:40,130
extending the arch.
591
00:11:40,290 --> 00:11:43,170
More beams were then positioned for the flat deck beneath.
592
00:11:43,330 --> 00:11:45,450
And once a whole section had been finished,
593
00:11:45,610 --> 00:11:48,050
the crane would move out further along the arch,
594
00:11:48,210 --> 00:11:51,770
further out over the river and the whole process would start again.
595
00:11:59,530 --> 00:12:02,010
It was an engineering triumph.
596
00:12:02,170 --> 00:12:06,210
And it's led many Geordies to believe that the building of the Tyne Bridge
597
00:12:06,370 --> 00:12:08,970
was a dress rehearsal for an even bigger project
598
00:14:54,370 --> 00:14:55,810
Here, for the Tyne Bridge,
599
00:14:20,290 --> 00:14:24,850
In fact, Dorman Long also produced the materials for both bridges,
600
00:14:25,010 --> 00:14:28,490
shipping over 42,000 tonnes of specialist steel
601
00:14:28,650 --> 00:14:31,850
all the way to Australia, for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
602
00:14:35,450 --> 00:14:39,610
But that doesn't answer the question of which one came first and whether,
603
00:14:39,770 --> 00:14:41,330
as many Geordies believe,
604
00:14:41,490 --> 00:14:46,130
the design of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was based on the Tyne Bridge.
605
00:14:46,290 --> 00:14:48,770
Look back in the corners of the drawings though,
606
00:14:48,930 --> 00:14:52,610
and we can see two different firms of engineers who drew up the plans,
607
00:14:52,770 --> 00:14:54,210
the bridge designers.
608
00:14:12,210 --> 00:14:14,890
There it is clearly on both plans.
609
00:14:55,970 --> 00:14:58,250
we've got Mott, Hay and Anderson.
610
00:14:58,410 --> 00:15:00,170
And for Sydney Harbour Bridge,
611
00:15:00,330 --> 00:15:02,050
it's Douglas Fox and Partners.
612
00:15:03,690 --> 00:15:05,010
Now, dig a little further
613
00:15:05,170 --> 00:15:09,250
and there's another name on the Tyne Bridge drawings, Ralph Freeman.
614
00:15:09,410 --> 00:15:12,450
Ralph Freeman, later Sir Ralph Freeman,
615
00:15:12,610 --> 00:15:15,290
was one of Britain's greatest structural engineers
616
00:15:15,450 --> 00:15:20,330
and THE man to go to if you were planning to build a massive bridge.
617
00:15:20,490 --> 00:15:24,450
Now, we know at the time Freeman was working for Douglas Fox and Partners,
618
00:13:45,170 --> 00:13:48,410
And this is a copy of a plan of the Tyne Bridge
619
00:13:19,210 --> 00:13:20,650
Deep in its vaults is one
620
00:13:20,810 --> 00:13:24,170
of the largest engineering archives on the planet.
621
00:13:24,330 --> 00:13:26,730
It contains thousands of documents and plans
622
00:13:26,890 --> 00:13:30,010
from engineering projects around the world.
623
00:13:30,170 --> 00:13:34,050
Some going back to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
624
00:13:34,210 --> 00:13:37,530
So if there is a link between these two great bridges,
625
00:13:37,690 --> 00:13:39,330
I should find it here.
626
00:13:39,490 --> 00:13:42,170
From the archives I've managed to dig out
627
00:13:42,330 --> 00:13:45,010
an original plan of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
628
00:00:02,650 --> 00:00:06,650
ROB BELL: Britain's iconic bridges, spanning our most dramatic landscapes
629
00:13:48,570 --> 00:13:50,290
that I've brought with me.
630
00:13:50,450 --> 00:13:53,650
And straightaway, you can see there's an obvious similarity.
631
00:13:53,810 --> 00:13:57,730
They've both got the big steel arch, two towers at each end,
632
00:13:57,890 --> 00:13:59,930
and the flat suspended section.
633
00:14:00,090 --> 00:14:02,210
But have a closer look
634
00:14:02,370 --> 00:14:06,010
and it seems that connection goes a little deeper,
635
00:14:06,170 --> 00:14:08,810
because both bridges were manufactured
636
00:14:08,970 --> 00:14:12,050
by Dorman Long and Company of Middlesbrough.
54244
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.