Workers painting the underside of the bridge.(Image: Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)

Inside the Tyne Bridge restoration for a first look at sections completed with green paint job

ChronicleLive went inside the scaffolding on the Gateshead side of the Tyne Bridge on Wednesday to see the first areas that have been fully restored under a £32 million renovation

by · ChronicleLive

A new glimpse inside the Tyne Bridge's £32 million restoration has revealed the first completed sections of the works and their gleaming, green paint job.

The refurbishment of the bridge has hit an exciting milestone, with the first repainted areas of the crossing about to be unveiled to the public. Tynesiders will soon get a glimpse of a section of the parapet and underside of the main bridge deck that has been restored to its original green.

Scaffolding that has surrounded the bridge’s Gateshead tower for the last year will be gradually dismantled between this month and January, allowing people to see the progress made in the first section of its long-awaited refurbishment. As well as a full repaint, in a ‘Hollybush’ colour intended to be as close as possible to the Tyne Bridge’s original look, the crossing is undergoing a huge number of vital structural repairs in what is its first major maintenance for more than 20 years.

Engineers confirmed on Wednesday that they have already found a further 100 defects during their work so far, on top of a previous 900 that were known, but say that the £32 million restoration remains on course to be completed in the summer of 2028 – in time for the Tyne Bridge’s 100th anniversary in the October of that year. Some beams have been described as so rusted and thin that a shovel or even a foot would easily break through them, while 10 tonnes of pigeon guano has already been removed.

139,400 litres of paint will be used on the bridge, enough to fill 850 beer barrels, and the colour has been chosen to closely resemble the original 1920s paint job, a ‘Superlative Middle Green’ supplied by the Gateshead firm J Dampney and Co. The Tyne Bridge has been green for most of its history, aside from a period between 1961 and 1985 when it was ‘persian blue’.

Esh operatives have grit blasted off between eight and 11 layers of old paint to expose the bridge’s steelwork, before applying the new, three-coat paint system. Workers apply some of a protective undercoat by hand around joins and rivets, before the green layers are sprayed on top. It is hoped that the new paint will have a lifespan of 30 years, having been chosen for its colour retention and ability to withstand the testing weather conditions of the Tyne Gorge, though it is expected to need some touching up halfway through that period.

The Tyne Bridge’s refurbishment is being carried out across 20 different phases over the four-year programme, as it could not withstand the 13,000 tonne weight of all the scaffolding being erected at once.

Work will move across from the Gateshead tower to the Newcastle side of the bridge, where the next set of scaffolding is being erected now. Once that is completed, the scaffolding will then move to the underside of the bridge deck and gradually work its way up the famous archway.

Neil Wilkinson, interim service director for Climate Change, Compliance, Planning and Transport at Gateshead Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see this rich green shade of paint back on the bridge, bringing it back to its best. Everyone knows what the Tyne Bridge means to this area, and it’s going to be great for people to see the new paint as they travel back and forth, to understand what the finished restoration will look like.”

Pamela Holmes of Newcastle City Council with a newly painted part of the Tyne Bridge.(Image: Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)
Tyne Bridge restoration: A newly painted part of the bridge, underneath the bridge deck.(Image: Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)
Tyne Bridge restoration: A newly painted part of the bridge parapet.(Image: Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)