Dropped Tyne Bridge restoration repairs revealed

Planned repairs that were dropped from a project to restore the Tyne Bridge due to rising costs have been outlined in a new report.

The £41.4m scheme, which includes work on Newcastle's central motorway, started at the end of 2023 and stepped up in April 2024.

The project's scope was scaled back before it began as inflation and the condition of the bridge caused expected costs to increase significantly. Newly published detail shows the scrapped elements included repairs to the towers and some work on the central motorway.

Newcastle City Council said these and some other repairs had been "deferred until additional funding streams" could be found.

A spokesperson said: "We would stress that we are not even halfway through the four-year programme and will continue to seek additional funding where further opportunities arise to allow the full scope of works to be completed.

"Both projects are progressing well and remain on schedule."

A review by consulting firm AECOM, requested by the North East Combined Authority as part of the process for signing off a final £6.3m to complete the repairs, said there would be a "decrease in reported benefits given the elements have been scaled back".

However, it concluded there was "reasonable confidence" the project would still "deliver sufficient value for money".

The report said the deferred work included:

• Concrete repairs, cleaning, and door and window repairs on the Tyne Bridge towers
• Grit blasting, steelwork repairs, and repainting of the Tyne Bridge's approach spans
• Concrete repairs, cleaning, and repointing of the bridge abutments
• Concrete repairs and barriers on multiple sections of the Central Motorway
• Waterproofing and protective coating renewals across all Central Motorway structures
• Architectural or heritage lighting, public realm, and aesthetic enhancements
• Any additional resilience or future-proofing measures beyond the "core structural interventions"

The councils said the dropped works would be considered during future repair projects at the earliest opportunity, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Newcastle's Liberal Democrats said they were "troubled" by the reduction in scale of the repairs.

The group's leader Colin Ferguson said: "It is hardly the grand job that had been promised and some parts appear to be being scaled back to the bare bones.

"We are particularly seeking clarity on the implications of this for the de-scoped commitments on the Central Motorway as we consider it is essential to keep a close eye on its ongoing maintenance needs, how that will be funded, and over what timeframe."

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