Northern Spire
| Northern Spire | |||||||||
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| Durham | |||||||||
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| Sunderland | |||||||||
| Opening Date | |||||||||
| 29th August 2018 | |||||||||
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| A1231 | |||||||||
The Northern Spire is a cable stayed bridge crossing the River Wear in Sunderland, carrying the A1231. The name was chosen following a public vote, where it emerged as the most popular of the three options presented. Northern Spire is a two span bridge with a central pylon 105m in height, making it the tallest structure in the city. The roadway is a dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction.
History
The initial plans for a bridge over the Wear at this location were made in 2005 and a design was approved in 2008 following a public consultation, but the original design was dropped due to funding issues and a simpler cable stayed design was selected instead. Confirmation of funding for the construction of the bridge came in January 2015 with the following notice posted on the official project website:
Sunderland City Council has issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN) for its new Wear crossing project through the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
It follows recent confirmation from the Government that £82.5m of Government funding is available for the bridge project.
The City Council is preparing plans for a cable-stayed road bridge to transport two lanes of traffic - in both directions - with dedicated cycleways and footpaths along its full length. The bridge and its approach roads cross the River Wear between Castletown on the north side and Pallion on the south.
The central pylon was installed in February 2017 and the bridge deck was completed in summer of that year. The bridge opened to traffic on 29th August 2018.
Links
- Northern-Spire Project website 2018 (archive.org)
- Northern Spire Bridge and new roads map 2018 (archive.org)
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