Dorman Long built the Tyne Bridge in three years. Restoring it is taking longer than that.
Two years into the job, Esh Construction has completed 1,546 discrete repairs to the Grade II* listed crossing and hung roughly 13,000 tonnes of scaffolding off it, using about 181 miles of tube. It is one of the largest scaffold operations in UK civils. The bridge has carried traffic throughout.
Project Scope
The 1925-28 through-arch was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and fabricated by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, and it opened to King George V on 10 October 1928. Its 162-metre main span was the longest single span in Britain at the time, and the design became the prototype for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which the same firm finished four years later.
More than 1,200 steel, concrete, stonework and masonry repairs sit in the scope, hanger repairs included. They range from minor over-plating where section has been lost, up to replacement of major steel members that needs complex temporary works to hold load while the member is out. The underdeck scaffold spans tower to tower about 84 feet above the river.
West parapet works finished in 2026. By the end of the year, all repairs and painting from carriageway level down to the quayside and across the river span are due to be done and the underdeck scaffold struck. A protection deck goes up above the live carriageway in autumn 2026, and in 2027 the work moves up the main archway.
The repaint is in Hollybush green, matched to the original 1928 colour, using a coating system specified for up to 30 years of service in the Tyne gorge, where marine salt and an industrial estuary attack steel from both directions.
Funding reached 38.9 million pounds: a Department for Transport grant, roughly 5 million from Newcastle and Gateshead councils, and 6.3 million confirmed by the North East Combined Authority in June 2026.
Why It Matters
The steelwork isn’t what makes this hard. Access is. Lead paint containment, phased possession of an operating A-road, and temporary works design on a listed structure set the programme, and the repair count keeps moving as survey opens up sections nobody has seen since the 1920s. Anyone pricing heritage steel refurbishment in the UK is using this job as the reference.
The target is the bridge’s centenary in October 2028.
Project Team & Details
| Owner / Client | Newcastle City Council (with Gateshead Council) |
|---|
| Consultants | 48.3 (Scaffold Design) |
|---|
| General Contractor | Esh Construction (Esh Group) |
|---|
| Major Subcontractors | Infrastructure Site Solutions (Scaffolding) |
|---|
| Status | Under Construction |
|---|
| Funding Source | Mixed |
|---|
