Off Topic Northern Spire

Some of us have expressed an interest previously, so I thought that I'd post an update about this very impressive landmark

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NORTHERN SPIRE - DUE TO OPEN IN AUGUST

Northern Spire – Sunderland’s new bridge across the River Wear – is expected to open in August.
Finishing works on the cable-stayed bridge, which boasts an impressive 105m central A-framed pylon, are expected to take a few more weeks, with the bridge due to open to traffic by the end of August.

There is a 'The Story so Far video' available on the Northern Spire website, which summarises the three-year construction project.

It was hoped that the bridge would be open in late spring this year, but the harsh weather that dominated the first four months of the year meant that work did not progress as quickly as hoped.

During the past few weeks, though, the team has worked hard to maximise the recent spell of good weather and is now finishing final paintworks on the pylon and carrying out final inspections.

Leader of Sunderland City Council Cllr Graeme Miller said: “We appreciate that people are very eager to see Northern Spire complete and are curious as to when it will open to the public. We, too, are excited to see it in use.
“The only substantive works remaining are painting and inspecting, so we are counting down to opening day.
“Of course, painting at height using high-level platforms dictates the speed at which the painting can happen, and this is still sensitive to weather conditions, but we hope that the good weather continues so that we can get these final works and the appropriate final inspections completed.
“While we all want to see Northern Spire in use as soon as possible, it’s important that we don’t compromise the finish by rushing to open. This project is far too important for that.”
Northern Spire is the first bridge to be built over the River Wear in the city for more than 40 years. It will link Castletown to the north of the river with Pallion in the south and is a part of a wider plan to improve the road network between the A19 and the Port of Sunderland and Sunderland City Centre.
The new bridge will reduce congestion and journey times around the city, attract investment, and enable swathes of land along the river to be regenerated.
Sunderland City Council believes that it will be the catalyst for change, leading to job creation, an economic boost to local businesses and a rise in local pride and confidence.

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Mark Jackson, Head of Infrastructure and Transport at Sunderland City Council, said: “We understand that people want to see Northern Spire open, like we do, but we always said that it would be a three-year project and it has been.
“Unfortunately, the weather was a big issue for us earlier this year and FVB, the main contractor, hasn’t been able to complete the painting in the time that we had all planned for. As a team, we have ensured throughout that the quality and finish of the bridge have remained at the heart of everything that we have done, and that remains our main focus. Whilst we all want to see Northern Spire in use, we won’t let those standards slip to get it open before we think it’s ready.
“Whilst there are some minor works required before the bridge can open, such as cleaning the deck and commissioning the traffic lights, which will only take a few days, we are now purely painting and inspecting the pylon. The pylon is obviously a big structure, so it’s taking quite a bit of time, but we would rather give it the time that it needs, while it’s fully closed.”
Mark said that he believed Northern Spire would have a big impact on Sunderland. He added: “We will keep people informed and as soon as we can confirm an actual opening date - we will share it at the earliest opportunity. The bridge opening may be behind where we wanted it to be, but our long-term plan for Sunderland is still very much on schedule.”

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Northern Spire has been designed and built to last at least 120 years, and more than 2,000 people have worked on the project over the past three years - completing a million man-hours of work on site.
Costing £117.6m, funding has been jointly provided by the Government, which contributed £82.5m, and Sunderland City Council, which contributed £35.1m. The project is predicted to come in under budget.
Stephen McCaffrey, Project Director for Farrans Construction and Victor Buck Steel Construction, which formed FVB Joint Venture to deliver the project on behalf of Sunderland City Council, said: “We feel enormously privileged to have been able to work on Northern Spire, and we are immensely proud that we are entering the final stages of work.

“With a project of this size and nature, there were always going to be challenges, and we knew that the weather was something that we could do little about. The wind, rain and very cold temperatures were an issue for us earlier this year, but we are happy to be completing the finishing works on the deck and pylon.
“There will still be some minor works to complete once the bridge is open, but that is usual for large construction schemes like this. It’s been a project that I think all of us will remember for the rest of our careers.”
Northern Spire is Phase 2 of the Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor, which aims to improve links between the A19 and Sunderland City Centre and the Port of Sunderland. Phase 3 of the scheme has been granted planning permission and will run from where the Northern Spire phase ends onto the city centre, where Phase 1 along St Mary’s has already been completed.
The new dual carriageway delivered within Phase 3 will go under the Queen Alexandra Bridge, through Deptford, and link into St Mary’s Boulevard, next to the Vaux site, opening up more development sites and opportunities along the river. Work on the new road will begin next year, which is expected to be finished and open to traffic in 2021.


KEEPING YOU INFORMED

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It is important for us to keep local businesses and residents informed, so we’ll be providing regular updates as the project moves forward.
You can find out more about the project at www.northernspire.co.uk

 

Good to hear they aren’t rushing it, better it be done once and properly, than a half hearted attempted you have to look at forever. There was a program on the BBC I think a while back about it all, that was pretty interesting, squeaky bum time getting it down the river on the barge.

 

Yes , a nice paint job will be nice. Have you seen the state of the Tyne bridge lately?

 

They certainly aren't rushing it mate - take it from someone who commutes from South Shields to Pallion 5 days a week

 

Was on the local news and it looked like four or five blokes up the pylon one had a 2 inch paint brush, the other four seemed to be keeping him company .

 

I think it's bland me

 

I think you will find it was a 1" brush. He was just the touching in guy.

 

As a civil engineer by training I appreciate a good bridge every now and again. It’s a very imposing bridge and it always catches my eye as I drive up the A19. The only other land mark to do so is Emley Moor Mast as I drive on the M1 or M62. Sad ain’t it

 

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It looks alright. The backdrop lets it down though. They need to clean up and build down by the river banks, if it's possible? No idea as I really don't know the area that well.

 

Think it's a bit of an eyesore.

 

You just know some d$ckhead will graffiti it. Matter of time

 

I think it suffers the same thing the spinnaker tower does in Portsmouth. There should have been something that would really put the place on the map but just end up with something that looks like it could be anywhere

 

Given the location I’m surprised they didn’t opt for a cantilever bridge. It would have been less obstructive and may have fitted into the surroundings better. I guess cost and constraints would have been an issue. I can’t imagine the river Wear is that wide (including banks)

 

Its a poor design imo, looks to me that it was meant for somewhere in the Middle East, and they pulled the plug, Scimatars or Tusks look more at home out that way, much prefer straight lines myself as in the Scandinavian mould, The Bridge between Sweden and Denmark for instance.

 

Architects like to go for bold and ambitious designs. They’re artists who couldn’t quite make it into art school so bum around for 7 years trying to learn how to make structures pretty.

 

Good for them. Could not see some of to-days artists making anything pretty.

 

Drove past it earlier and I like the design. It’s bold and it’s a bit different.

As is standard in Sunderland though they’ve ****ed it in one way, the way you join it heading towards Sunderland on Wessongton Way is going to cause ridiculous issues for me. A traffic lighted right turn over a dual carriageway?

I know it would have added to the job but traffic should have been routed round from that side to join it face on down past Sainsbury’s, in reality they’ve built it in completely the wrong place.

Will it ease the other bridges, seeing that it’s hardly lifting much of the residential traffic from north of the river? Not sure.

 

Love Spinnaker Tower me like