Council denies Tyne Bridge restoration delayed after By The River and HWKRLAND closure decision
Council bosses have insisted that there has been no setback in the restoration of the Tyne Bridge.
The famous crossing is currently undergoing its first major maintenance in two decades, with hopes that the rusted icon can be returned to its rightful state in time for its centenary celebrations in 2028. But an alleged delay in the works was blamed this week as it was announced that the popular HWKRLAND and By The River Brew food and drink market, located next to the Gateshead side of the bridge, will be shutting down after this weekend.
The team behind HWKRLAND, which was due to be turned into a massive festive village this winter, announced on Monday that there would be “major disruption to this winter's planned events and operations” as a result of the deconstruction of the scaffolding around the bridge’s southern tower being pushed back. Newcastle City Council has now denied that there has been any such delay and said that the removal of the scaffolding as the repairs move across to the Newcastle side of the bridge “will not impact on local businesses”.
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The local authority indicated that the Gateshead scaffolding will start being removed in early October, with the last remaining elements of it due to be taken away in the new year. A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The major restoration work on our iconic Tyne Bridge got underway this April on the Gateshead Quayside. Works are progressing well and, despite having uncovered additional repairs to attend to prior to painting, we are on schedule and there are no delays to the overall project.
“As set out in our programme, from early October we will begin to dismantle sections of the scaffolding on the Gateshead tower and people will soon be able to see for themselves the remarkable transformation that has taken place behind the scaffolding. The removal of the scaffolding is being carefully managed and will not impact on local businesses.
"At the same time, the scaffolding will rise on the Newcastle side as work progress around the Newcastle tower. Newcastle and Gateshead are very much open for business throughout the restoration programme and we will continue to liaise with local businesses to minimise any impact as we restore an icon to its former glory.”
Mike Hesketh, of the EVNT Inspirations firm behind HWKRLAND, said the removal of the Gateshead side scaffolding “has been delayed from the programme we were working to” but that there had been “no solid guarantees”. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The removal was a factor in the delivery of our winter programme.
"However we have no issue with this as we had no solid guarantees on timeline due to the unknown nature of the works. We are glad the overall programme is still on course as we want to see the Tyne Bridge back to its former glory as much as the rest of the North East.”
The much-needed revamp of the Tyne Bridge began in earnest this April and is expected to take until the summer of 2028 to complete – just ahead of its 100th anniversary in October that year. Weight restrictions on the grade II* listed structure mean that it cannot be entirely covered by scaffolding at once, with the programme of repairs instead being moved across to different sections of it over time.
The work began on the Gateshead end of the bridge and will move to the north tower, before the scaffolding moves gradually across the main span of the bridge and its famous arch. Lane restrictions cutting the road capacity of the bridge itself in half are expected to remain in place for the first two years of the restoration.
Restoring the Tyne Bridge to its former glory is expected to cost £32 million, though it is part of a larger £41.4 million project that also includes improvements on part of the Central Motorway. As well as a full repaint, the bridge is in need of a large number of structural repairs – including steelwork fixes, waterproofing and road resurfacing.