Royal Tweed Bridge

This article is about the smaller road bridge in Berwick. For the larger road bridge, see Royal Tweed Bridge. For the railway viaduct, see Royal Border Bridge.
Royal Tweed Bridge

Royal Tweed Bridge
Coordinates 55°46′05″N 2°00′32″W / 55.768°N 2.009°WCoordinates: 55°46′05″N 2°00′32″W / 55.768°N 2.009°W
Carries Road traffic
Crosses River Tweed
Locale Northumberland, England
Characteristics
Material Reinforced concrete
Total length 430 metres (1,410 ft)
Number of spans 4
History
Constructed by L G Mouchel & Partners
Construction begin 1925
Construction end 1928
Statistics
Daily traffic Dual carriageway
Toll No
Royal Tweed Bridge
 Royal Tweed Bridge shown within Northumberland
grid reference NT995527

The Royal Tweed Bridge is a 1920s road bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England crossing the River Tweed. It was intended to divert traffic from the 17th century Old Bridge, and until the 1980s it formed part of the A1 road, the main route from London to Edinburgh. However, the construction of a new bridge to the west of Berwick as part of bypass has since reduced the Royal Tweed Bridge's importance.

Construction took place between 1925 and 1928. It was undertaken by L G Mouchel & Partners, who still operate today (as Mouchel Parkman). The design is of reinforced concrete and consists of four unequal arches. The bridge altogether spans a distance just short of 430 metres. However, the spans of the arches themselves (50.1, 74.4, 95.5 and 108.50 metres) vary remarkably, so much so that the longest, northern arch for a while held the record for Great Britain's largest concrete arch.

Up until the 2000s, when the road and pavement layout was altered and new lights added, both side of the bridge was used for parking with a smaller pavement in use. This caused a large weight on the deck of the bridge and forced the Berwick Borough Council to adapt a new layout to ease pressure on the bridge.

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