New Wear Crossing

New Wear Crossing: A huge rope bridge

The New Wear Bridge is the first bridge to be built over the Wear in Sunderland for more than 40 years and it is part of the wider strategic transport plan to connect the Port of Sunderland and city centre with the A19. This iconic bridge will connect the city centre and the port to the A19. It will be a social and economic catalyst for future investments in the Tyna & Wear region.

The bridge is designed by Spence Associates in partnership with structural engineering firm Techniker. It is a rope bridge with a 360m span and is 28m wide. In the middle of the bridge there is a beautiful pylon that is 105m high. Therefore it is even higher than the Big Ben in London (96m).

The assembly of the bridge is divided into three phases. The first step is to launch one half of the deck. Then the A-frame pylon will be rotated in position using a big hinge. The big pylon is premade at Victor Buyck Steel Construction in Belgium and gets transported to the site on a giant barge. Finally, the second half of the deck will be launched between the two legs of the pylon.