Constantius Bridge is a modern concrete bridge across the River Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

 about 1 miles (2 km) west of Hexham

Hexham

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

, Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The bridge carries the A69 road

A69 road

The A69 is a major road in northern England, running east-west across the Pennines, through the counties of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Cumbria. Originally the road started in Blaydon, but since the creation of the A1 Western Bypass around Newcastle upon Tyne, it now starts at Denton Burn a...

 over the River Tyne and forms part of the Hexham bypass

Bypass (road)

A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....

.

History

In 1976 a new road was built to replace the old A69 through Hexham, and Hexham was by-passed on the north side of the river, necessitating a bridge crossing near Warden just west of Hexham. The bridge crosses the River Tyne just down stream from the "Meeting of the Waters" - the point where the North and South Tyne rivers join to form the main River Tyne, then crosses the railway to continue towards Haydon Bridge.

On 30 August 1975, during construction, there was a flood and the scaffolding and shuttering for the westernmost span collapsed. The completed bridge has already required strengthening due to flood damage, showing that the Tyne has lost none of its capability for attacking bridge structures.

External links