A North East stonemasons will use its specialist expertise to carry out much needed repair work on the historic Union Chain Bridge linking England and Scotland.
Classic Masonry has been appointed to undertake the stone restoration work on the famous suspension bridge across the River Tweed as part of a £10.5m repair scheme.
The company is working on behalf of Northumberland County Council and main contractor Spencer Group Ltd of Hull, which is currently dismantling the 200-year-old bridge before painstakingly reconstructing.
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A key part of the scheme to repair the river crossing, which opened in 1820 and remains the world’s oldest suspension bridge still carrying traffic, entails installing new anchorage points for the steel chains so the structure’s physical integrity can be assured for at least the next century.
Classic Masonry, which is based in North Shields, will take apart sections of stonework and replace any defective parts found to the North and South towers to enable the new chain anchorages to be installed and facilitate rebuilding.
Mike Moody, managing director of Classic Masonry, said: “This is a wonderful scheme to be part of and we are absolutely delighted to be working with Northumberland County Council and Spencer Group on such an historic and interesting project - and one that will keep the bridge in use for generations to come.
“As part of the conservation requirements for the work, the source of the original stone has been identified and by taking samples from the bridge, we have been fortunate to locate a nearby quarry that still has usable stone reserves so that any new masonry will be a perfect match.
“We are also using a highly skilled and experienced team of stonemasons to ensure successful and satisfactory client hand over. One of our apprentices will also have some involvement on this job due to the unique opportunity to work on some very rare and important historic stonemasonry features.”
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Work began on repairing the bridge last October and is expected to take 18 months in total.
Mr Moody and his team will be taking the masonry down piece by piece, starting from the Scottish side. The bridge will be reconstructed with all of the parts going back in exactly the same location. The firm is due to complete its role in July this year.
Classic Masonry’s experience set it apart for appointment to the project with similar high-profile roles to its credit, including the £40m upgrade of the High Level Bridge in Newcastle and the £5m renovation and re-build of Shaken Bridge in North Yorkshire.
Classic Masonry has also successfully completed a previous project for Spencer Group on the £30m regeneration of Hull Transport Interchange, which involved the restoration and repair of the Grade II listed Victorian Paragon Station.
The Union Chain Bridge which spans the River Tweed between Horncliffe, Northumberland, and Fishwick in Berwickshire, was designed by Royal Navy captain Samuel Brown and features a deck suspended by wrought-iron chains.
With its 137m span, the Grade 1 listed structure was the largest suspension bridge in the world when it was built. It is credited with influencing the design of amongst others the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In September 2019 plans to fully restore the bridge received £3.14m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
It followed a funding bid put together by Northumberland County Council, Scottish Borders Council, Museums Northumberland and community group Friends of the Union Chain Bridge, after serious concerns about the condition of the world-famous structure.
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Both councils committed match funding totalling £5.7m towards the £10.5m scheme, with the Friends of Union Chain Bridge continuing other money-raising activities in support of the project.
Paul Jones, service director for local services at Northumberland County Council, said: “This is a truly great project and one that will see a highly skilled set of people coming together to complete.
“I have every confidence that the project will be completed by Classic Masonry on time and to the highest possible standard.”