Wearmouth Bridge

Wearmouth Bridge is a through arch bridge across the River Wear in Sunderland, England. It is the final bridge over the river before its mouth with the North Sea.

Original bridge

The original Wearmouth Bridge was designed by Thomas Paine and opened in 1796. In 1805 the bridge was repaired, and between 1857 and 1859 it was reconstructed by Robert Stephenson.

History

To accommodate the growing volume of traffic, construction began on the current bridge in 1927. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and fabricated by the famous bridge building firm of Sir [William Arrol & Co.] at their Dalmarnock Ironworks in Glasgow. The new bridge was built around the old one to allow the road to remain open. It was opened on 31 October 1929 by the Duke of York.
The cost of the bridge amounted to £231,943 of which £12,000 was spent on dismantling the old bridge. The adjoining Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge was built in 1879, and extended the railway south from Monkwearmouth to the centre of Sunderland. The bridge carries the A183 road between Chester-le-Street and South Shields and the A1018 which was the old route of the A19 until the bypass was built leading to the Tyne Tunnel. It is a Grade II listed building. Sunderland City Council commissioned the building of Keel Crossing, a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge, in 2023 in order to reduce congestion on Wearmouth Bridge on matchdays.
A silhouette of the bridge appears on the Sunderland AFC crest since a 1997 redesign, along with the Penshaw Monument.