The new richly-illustrated bumper book, entitled The Tees Newport Bridge: The Untold Story of a Steel River Landmark explores the history of a remarkable engineering wonder that has long been overshadowed by the nearby Tees Transporter Bridge.

Opened on Wednesday 28^th February 1934 by the Duke of York, the Tees (Newport) Bridge was dubbed the ‘Tees Wonder Bridge’ as the largest vertical-lift bridge of its type in the world and the first of its type in the country. The Teesside landmark was constructed by Middlesbrough-based, famed bridge builders Dorman Long, who also built global icons such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Newcastle’s Tyne Bridge.

Built as the main vehicular crossing of the River Tees, famously dubbed the ‘Steel River’ by Chris Rea, construction work on the Bridge played a major role in relieving unemployment in the 1930s, whilst the new link between the counties of Durham and Yorkshire supported the development of new and expanding industries along the Tees including ICI. In the ensuing 90 years, the Newport Bridge – also referred to as the Tees Bridge - has played a major role in the economic, social and transportation history and heritage of Teesside.

A decade in the making, the idea for the book on the lesser-celebrated bridge linking Middlesbrough with the north bank of the Tees dates back to the landmark’s 80^th anniversary in 2014 when Tosh collaborated on a project with Teesside Archives that uncovered and digitised previously unseen photographs of Newport Bridge, which last lifted in 1990.

The Tees Newport Bridge: The Untold Story of a Steel River Landmark features dozens of the previously unpublished construction and opening ceremony photographs and also draws upon rarely seen archival material from private collections, Middlesbrough Libraries, Teesside Archives and local newspaper archives to provide a fascinating insight into the history of the Grade II listed structure. The impact of deindustrialisation, tales of triumphs and tragedies and dozens of memories are accompanied by a range of facts, figures and plans in Heritage Unlocked’s latest publication.

The Newport Bridge inspired work of a number of leading artists and photographers including Abby+Owen, Robin Dale, Philip Meadows, Alan Morley, Mackenzie Thorpe, Richard Wagner and Graham Frank Wright also features in the book.

Pages: c.128