{{Short description|Arch bridge}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox bridge | fetchwikidata = ALL | onlysourced = no | embedded = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Grade II Listed Building | designation1_offname = Wearmouth Bridge | designation1_date = 17 October 1994 | designation1_number = {{NHLE|num=1279911|short=yes}} }} | image = File:Monkwearmouth Bridge 3 - geograph.org.uk - 517024.jpg | bridge_name = Wearmouth Bridge | caption = Wearmouth Bridge in the foreground and the Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge in the background. | carries = {{ubl|{{UK road|A183}} {{UK road|A1018}}|Motor vehicles|{{UK NCN route|route=1}}|Cycles|Pedestrians}} | begin = 1927 | complete = 1929 | design = Through arch bridge | lanes = {{ubl|5|3 northbound|2 southbound}} }} '''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== {{main|Wearmouth Bridge (1796)}} 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 (they also built the famous Forth Rail Bridge and the steel structure of Tower Bridge in London).<ref>'The Sir William Arrol Collection', Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland contains many pictures of Wearside Bridge under Construction</ref> The new bridge was built around the old one to allow the road to remain open.<ref name="factsheet">{{cite web |work=Local Studies Centre collection, Sunderland Public Library Service |title=LOCAL STUDIES CENTRE FACT SHEET NUMBER 7: The Wearmouth Bridge |url=http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=6961&p=0 |access-date=2011-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807061938/http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=6961&p=0 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It was opened on 31 October 1929 by the Duke of York (who would later become King George VI).<ref name="ngl">{{cite web |first=Alex |last=Vickers |work=National Grid for Learning |title=The second Wearmouth Bridge |url=http://localhistory.ngfl.gov.uk/discovery.php?id=350 |access-date=2006-09-24 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
The cost of the bridge amounted to £231,943 of which £12,000 was spent on dismantling the old bridge.<ref name="ngl"/> The adjoining Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge was built in 1879, and extended the railway south from Monkwearmouth to the centre of Sunderland.<ref>{{cite web|work=Sunderland City Council |title=Historic Structures: Wearmouth Bridge |url=http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/Public/Editable/Themes/Visitors-Guide/Heritage/wearmouth-bridge.asp |access-date=2006-09-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050508234934/http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/Public/Editable/Themes/Visitors-Guide/Heritage/wearmouth-bridge.asp |archive-date=8 May 2005 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{NHLE| num= 1279911|desc= WEARMOUTH BRIDGE |accessdate= 19 June 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Ross |title=New footbridge now spanning its full length over the river in huge moment for city |url=https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/new-wear-footbridge-now-spanning-its-full-length-over-the-river-in-huge-moment-for-sunderland-4784976 |website=Sunderland Echo |access-date=11 June 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250611152322/https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/new-wear-footbridge-now-spanning-its-full-length-over-the-river-in-huge-moment-for-sunderland-4784976 |archive-date=11 June 2025 |language=en |date=18 September 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
A silhouette of the bridge appears on the Sunderland AFC crest since a 1997 redesign, along with the Penshaw Monument.
==Gallery==
{|class="wikitable" !<big>Images of the Wearmouth Bridge</big> <gallery mode="packed" heights="150px"> File:Wearmouthbridge.jpg|Looking north across the Wearmouth Bridge. File:Pont Wearmouth Sunderland 10.jpg|Looking south along the Wearmouth Bridge. File:Wearmouth Bridge Sunderland.JPG|Underneath the Wearmouth Bridge </gallery> |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Wearmouth Bridge}} * [http://www.tomorrows-history.com/CommunityProjects/PG0100060001/Wearmouth%20Bridge.htm Wearmouth Bridge over River Wear] * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/image_galleries/wearmouth_bridge_gallery.shtml Image gallery at BBC Wear]
{{River item box |River = River Wear |upstream = Monkwearmouth Bridge |downstream = None |type = bridge |thisis = |upsub = Durham Coast Line & Tyne and Wear Metro |downsub = North Sea |location = NZ396574 }}
{{Listed buildings in the City of Sunderland}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Bridges across the River Wear Category:Bridges completed in 1929 Category:Bridges in Tyne and Wear Category:Through arch bridges in the United Kingdom Category:Transport in the City of Sunderland Category:Grade II listed buildings in Tyne and Wear Category:Grade II listed bridges Category:Former toll bridges in England Category:Sunderland