Newport's Town Bridge
The Second Stone Bridge At Newport (1927 - date)
By Peter Brown
The town council considered the case for a new stone bridge for about 30 years before the new bridge was finally opened in 1927. This was due to the volume of traffic and concerns over the size and stability of the old stone bridge, whether it might be made safe or widened and whether its foundations were strong enough to hold a new structure.[1] There was also debate about the possibility of building a new bridge further north, while keeping the old bridge for foot passengers.
In 1911, the Council invited designs and estimates for a reinforced concrete bridge to replace the 1800 structure, which would have had three spans with a width between parapets of 60’ (18m) and 10’ (3m) wide footpaths, but the structure was never built, although the Council obtained Parliamentary powers in 1914 to build the bridge and to erect a temporary bridge immediately to the north and adjacent to the old bridge. The new bridge would have been much wider and reused the old bridge’s foundations.[2]
The following details are taken from a pamphlet in Newport Reference Library produced for the opening of the new bridge on 22 June 1927.[3]
Reconstruction
In 1920 Mr Basil Mott was consulted by the Council of this County Borough and he advised them to immediately erect a temporary Bridge, for which Parliamentary powers had already been obtained, to act as relief bridge and to maintain communication in the event of the old Bridge failing. The recommendation was adopted and the temporary bridge over the Thames at Southwark was acquired and erected for this purpose by Sir William Arrol & Co. Ltd.
The temporary bridge alongside Newport's first stone bridge.
The Ministry of Transport agreed to contribute 65% of the cost of demolishing the old bridge, building the new Bridge, and carrying out the various other works rendered necessary for the transfer of services from the old bridge to the Temporary Bridge and their subsequent retransfer to the new Bridge.
Messrs Mott, Hay and Anderson and the Borough Engineer were appointed Joint Engineers, and the details having been approved by the Ministry of Transport, tenders were obtained. In May 1924, the Tender of Sir William Arrol & Co. Ltd. was accepted, the amount being £140,275 10s.
Demolition of the old bridge in progress, it has been taken back to about the same state as it was in 1801 when drawn by Sir Richard Colt Hoare for William Coxe’s An Historical Tour in Monmouthshire (see print)
The new bridge under construction.
Notes on Works, and Nature and Quantities of Materials used.
The new Bridge is of five spans, and has a 36’ carriageway with two pavements each side 12’ wide, making an overall width of 60’ between parapets. Its length measured from face to face of abutments, is 356’ 7½”. Work was commenced on the 10 June 1924, on which date all traffic was diverted to the Temporary Bridge. The workforce employed consisted of 95% local men.[4]
The new Piers, four in number, stand in approximately the same positions in the River as those of the old Bridge, but their foundations are entirely new, each pier being founded on two rectangular Caissons sunk independently, one at each extremity of the corresponding Pier of the earlier structure. These Caissons were sunk by means of compressed air and are carried down into the red marl which exists as a continuous stratum at varying depths below the River bed.
The work of sinking the Pier Caissons - especially the four northern ones – proved more troublesome and lengthy than had been anticipated owing to the quantity of debris in the upper strata of the River bed. This debris consists of blocks of stone and bags of cement (dumped as protection for the old bridge piers from scouring effects as previously stated) together with old waterlogged tree trunks and heavy timbers which may have formed part of the temporary works in connection with the Bridge building in 1800.
During the sinking of the northern caisson of Pier No. 2 (the second pier from the west end of the Bridge) an interesting relic was discovered just above the marl some twenty one feet below river bed level. This proved to be a carved limestone Rood dating from the 15th Century and identified as once forming part of a wayside cross of which the remains are still standing on Stow Hill. Although considerably worn and weathered, the general outline of the original carving is still plainly discernible and it has been placed in the Newport Museum.
The masonry of each Pier is built from the top of the concrete filling of its two Caissons at a level slightly below low water level of ordinary Spring tides. The space – roughly the overall length of the old Pier – between the two Caissons of each new Pier is bridged by a semicircular arch of 41’ 6” diameter and the adoption of this construction, which is unique, thus left the old pier foundation remaining undisturbed between the two separate portions of the new foundation; these old foundations have been covered with a thick apron of concrete.
The old Bridge was left intact, except for the footpaths which were removed at an early stage of the work, until all eight pier caissons had been founded. Its subsequent removal entailed the use of specially constructed temporary arch centerings which were placed in position close under the stone arches of the old Bridge, to prevent sudden collapse as the latter were demolished.
The clearing away of the arches of the old Bridge enabled a start to be made with the Cofferdams for the new Piers. These Cofferdams were built up with steel plates and interlocking piles, constituting an enclosure around the site of each Pier to enable the lower portions of the Pier to be built in masonry. It was found, however, that the porous nature of the River bed (into which the steel pile portions of the Cofferdams were driven) allowed so much water to percolate that the Cofferdams could not be kept more than partially free from tidal water. This, coupled with difficulties arising from the exceptionally muddy nature of the water in the River Usk caused frequent stoppages of the pumps and entailed great expenditure of labour in clearing the work of mud deposited with each tide, and delayed the earlier stages of the construction of the piers by several weeks.
The East Abutment is founded on three rectangular Caissons which, like those of the Piers, were sunk by means of compressed air; the wing walls are built on a foundation of reinforced concrete piles.
The West Abutment foundations were excavated in free air within a Cofferdam of steel piling, the comparatively high level of the marl stratum on this side of the river rendering Caissons unnecessary.
The piers and abutments are faced with local Pennant stone and have concrete hearting. The string courses, skewbacks and turtle-backs are of Devonshire granite.The Roadway and Footpaths are carried in each of the five spans by seven steel arched ribs, spaced 8’ 6” apart, the Footpaths being cantilevered outwards from the face rib on each side. The steel floor system and decking plates are supported directly by the ribs near the crowns of the arches and by spandril posts in the haunches. All the steelwork was fabricated in the Contractors’ works at Glasgow. The cast iron Parapet (that necessitated 1300 castings) and bronze Lamp standards were made locally by Messers. W.A. Baker and Co, (1910) Ltd., produced at the Westgate Foundries, Town Dock. [5]
The lamp standards are based on ancient Greek tripods and the weight of each is 6 cwt (305 kg).
The road surface on the Bridge is level from the west abutment to the middle of the centre span and thence slopes downwards towards Clarence Place at grades from 1 to 30 and 1 to 40.
The Bridge, besides forming an important highway for traffic of all kinds, carries a number of service mains and cables, and the task of arranging for the transference of the Gas, Water, Electricity and Post Office services from the Temporary Bridge proved exceptionally difficult. After numerous conferences, agreement between the various parties concerned was affected and the greater part of the work has already been carried out. Under the flagging of the north pathway, twenty Post Office ducts, two water mains and an electric lighting cable have been installed. Similarly twenty-four ducts for Electric cables and a high pressure gas main have been installed in the Roadway, while the south footpath accommodates two large low-pressure Gas mains and another Electric lighting cable.
The second stone bridge opened on 22 June 1927.
The materials used in the new bridge
The approximate quantities of materials used in the bridge work and approaches were as follows.[6]
Steelwork in caissons |
|
|
|
Piers |
315 tons |
|
East abutment |
85 tons |
Excavation |
|
|
|
For pier foundations |
3,500 cu yds |
|
For abutments |
1,500 cu yds |
(In addition, the demolition of the old bridge involved the breaking up and removal of 7500 cu yds of masonry) |
||
Concrete in foundations |
|
|
|
Piers |
3,700 cu yds |
|
Abutments |
700 cu yds |
Concrete in hearting |
|
|
|
Piers |
2,500 cu yds |
|
Abutments |
2,500 cu yds |
Pennant stone |
|
|
|
In piers |
38,000 cu ft |
|
In abutments |
12,000 cu ft |
Granite |
|
|
|
In piers |
6,500 cu ft |
|
In abutments |
2,000 cu ft |
Brickwork |
|
|
|
In piers |
350 cu yds |
|
In abutments |
150 cu yds |
|
|
|
Structural steelwork |
|
660 tons |
Cast iron parapet |
|
100 tons |
Waterproofing asphalte |
|
3,200 sq yds |
Roadway concrete |
|
1,400 sq yds |
Roadway asphalte |
|
2,200 sq yds |
Stone flagging (foot paths) |
|
1,400 sq yds |
Granite kerb |
|
1100 feet run |
The opening ceremony[7]
The bridge was opened on 22 June 1927, by His Majesty’s Minister of Transport, Lt. Col. The Right Honourable Wilfred Ashley, P.C., M.P. The Minister arrived by train from London accompanied by his private secretary (Mr. L. Foster-Stedman) and was met at the station by the Mayor of Newport (Councillor A.T.W. James), the Town Clerk (Mr. O. Treharne Morgan), the Chairman of the Parliamentary and Improvements Committee of Newport Corporation (Alderman John Moxon O.B.E.) and other members of the Town Council. The party proceeded to the Town Hall from where a procession travelled along High Street to the new bridge, while flags were flown and crowds lined the streets.
The Minister had difficulty cutting the broad white tape with the silver-gilt scissors and a more suitable and less-ornate pair was used instead. When the task was complete, the Minister made the following statement.
“I declare this bridge open, for the use of the King’s subjects forever.”
Alderman Moxon presented the Mayor with a handsome souvenir booklet, bound in silver and morocco, containing a description of the bridge. The procession then re-formed and returned to the Town Hall for a large meeting in the Council Chamber, where the Mayor proposed a vote of thanks to the Minister.
The bridge is decorated with several plaques showing simplified versions of the City Council’s coat of arms, with the unusual feature of a cherub appearing above the shield of arms. The arms show a gold shield with the red chevron in reverse, based on the arms of the Stafford family that provided the Lords of the Manor in the late Medieval period.
The bridge plaque featured on the cover for the record ‘Love Spreads’ by the band The Stone Roses, released in 1994. Some cherubs were subsequently ripped from their mounts on the bridge, allegedly taken as souvenirs by fans of the band.[8]
Newport City Council's coat of arms is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, it places a cherub above the shield of arms; secondly, one of the supporters is a winged sea lion - Newport was the first authority to use this rare heraldic device. In 1929 Newport obtained a grant to use the armorial bearings which, in fact, it had already been using for some time - certainly since 1835. This is a gold shield with a red chevron in reverse; the shield is ensigned by a cherub. The shield is that of the Staffords, Earls and Dukes of Buckingham, lords of the Manor of Newport in the 14th and 15th centuries - but the reversed chevron marks the difference between these Borough Arms and those of the family.
June 2003.
2007
References
1 South Wales Argus, 22 June 1927.
2 I am grateful to John Pritchard, Structural Engineer at Newport City Council, for help with this information.
3 Newport Bridge: Document detailing the early history of the bridge, together with a description of the old bridge, and details of materials used in construction (typescript), Newport Reference Library, N262445, M160
4 South Wales Argus, 22 June 1927, 7
5 South Wales Argus, 22 June 1927
6 South Wales Argus, 22 June 1927
7 South Wales Argus, 22 June 1927
8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Spreads