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Regional ROAD NETWORK - Coast Road, A69, A19 etc (all major roads except the A1 which has its own thread)

803K views 4K replies 163 participants last post by  Frank Black 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Without the Coast Road, North Tyneside would be dead and certainly wouldn't be playing a part in the future hope of Greater Newcastle.

It has often wondered me how important and how well structered the coast road (A1058) is. Compared to other roads in the UK linking towns, citys and districts, the coast road (i feel) is one of the better ones.

There are loads of roads you can compare it to. I've been to Manchester, Leeds, York etc... but no road between two districts are built like the coast road, well structured and were built for the future.

The downside of the coast road is the lack of development around the A19, Billy Mill and throughout Jesmond which leads onto and off the central motorway. It is a pain getting on and off, but something which could be re-designed to make it faster flowing for all.

Now I say it is well constructed for the future and it is or was, the problems mentioned above are slowly beginning to show their age and considering the coast road was built in 1924 ish, it's done a pretty reasonable job through upgrades throughout the year.

I love the coast road and I think North Tyneside and Newcastle would be lost without it.

Does anyone have any old pictures of it? I remember it being concrete blocks instead of tarmac years ago when I was a nipper.

I've found an old video of the opening of the coast road which shows the East Coast main line (where the Wills building is).

The site is from the British Pathe and will have hundreds of old videos on. This is just one of many.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=21405

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#2 · (Edited)
I've got to agree, it's the main road for the East side of Newcastle and those coming off the A19 to get into Newcastle. If you compare it with the main road for the West end of Newcastle, I.E West Gate road you can see a vast quality change. It's not pretty to look at and not many things on the way is pretty, but it's very effective at doing it's job. Without it I couldn't get into Newcastle by bus within half an hour.
 
#4 ·
I've got to agree, it's the main road for the East side of Newcastle and those coming off the A19 to get into Newcastle. If you compare it with the main road for the West end of Newcastle, I.E West Gate road you can see a vast quality change.
Trouble is that although the A69 feeds directly into West Road/Westgate Road, the real intended equivalent of the Coast Road is (or should be) the A695/Scotswood Road. It's a pity that the A69 and the Western Bypass could not have been planned so that A69 traffic fed naturally - via proper grade-sparated junctions and a widened section of A1 bypass - down onto the Scotswood Road. As it s, it involves a 270 degree turn at the awful Denton Burn r'bout, a hop down the A1, then the mess of lights and roundabouts at the end of Scotswood Bridge before getting onto the 'expressway' bit of Scotswood Road.
 
#6 ·
Does anyone have any old pictures of it? I remember it being concrete blocks instead of tarmac years ago when I was a nipper.


I found this one the other day, and I thought the unusual angle made it quite interesting. I believe the street in the foreground is Churchill Street, Howdon, with Gibson Street (left) and Embleton Avenue (right) in behind. Until I saw this pic, I'd never realised that the college pre-dated the rest of the building around it.

Apologies that I can't provide a source - I snapped this from a book using my mobile phone and I didn't take down the details. Was interesting to me because my grandma was born on Gibson Street.
 
#8 ·
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This thread was originally just called "Coast Road", but with that relatively limited scope it was already (though only started on September 5th) starting to slip down the forum.

After discussions with Godcrasher (who started the thread) it was agreed that we should extend the coverage of the thread to cover "All Major Roads" in the Newcastle Area, as that is a thread that the forum has not had in the past.

The only major roads that had been really covered (and usually for specific reasons) and they can continue to remain independent of this thread, are . . .

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=236681 - The Tyne Tunnel and A19
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=999987 - The Construction of the Central Motorway East
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1016011 - Dualling the A1 North of Newcastle

So, this thread can now cover issues around all of the others, and I can already move this thread along, as I have received a request for information about the Gateshead Western Bypass AND the Newcastle Western Bypass . . . and had been looking for a logical thread to post that information in!!

This thread is now that logical place, and I will post that request next.
 
#9 ·
merleb; Aug 25 2010 said:
NH, as a side issue, do you know if there is any information on this forum about the building of the Gateshead Western Bypass in the 1970s? My searches so far have not been fruitful.
Newcastle Historian; Aug 26 2010 said:
I don't think there is anything, not that I can remember (though I do have a fair bit on the building of the NEWCASTLE Western Bypass, myself, that I have not yet posted onto the forum).

The only motorway construction that we have covered in any real depth, is the Central Motorway East.

Mind, one of the Websites listed in Section 17 (Transport) of our Websites Thread, is this one . . .

"PATHETIC MOTORWAYS" WEBSITE - 1960s/70s NEWCASTLE MOTORWAY PLANS, ETC
http://search.freefind.com/find.htm...8859-1&bcd=%F7&query=Gateshead+Western+Bypass

I haven't searched for the Gateshead part of the Western Bypass on there (properly) but there might be something of interest.
merleb; Aug 26 2010 said:
Thanks I will have a look at that site and see what I can find.

I would love to see what you do have on the Newcastle Western Bypass when you post it, as it sort of passed me by at the time.

There were some house demolitions needed in Denton Burn I can recall.

OK merleb, now that we have a thread for it I will try to sort out what I have about the building of the Newcastle Western Bypass (after all this, I hope it is worth looking at!!) and will post it on here shortly . .

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#13 · (Edited)
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Building the Newcastle Western Bypass (1987-1990)
Part 2

The process had actually got actively started in 1979, some EIGHT years prior to the start of construction in 1987. Planning (as is shown by the MAP in 'Part 1') had obviously been going on for many years (even) before that, but the first time the concept of a "Newcastle Western Bypass" (which would then become the A1) was actively discussed in the public domain, was around about 1979.

The following leaflet and questionnaire was made available to the public, by the Local Authority responsible for roads in the authority areas principally involved in the proposed Western Bypass (Newcastle and North Tyneside) which was Tyne and Wear County Council.

Those of you who read the "Diversion" thread about the building of the CME (Central Motorway East) will remember that Tyne and Wear County took over the responsibility for THAT construction, towards the end of the works, in 1974.

The first decision to be made was . . . what route should the Bypass take, North of Kingston Park?












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#26 · (Edited)
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Building the Newcastle Western Bypass (1987-1990)
Part 4


Principally concerning CONTRACTS 1, 1A, 3 and 4 : Newcastle Western Bypass.


DATE - During 1987.


The Newcastle Western By-pass was listed in the Department of Transports Policy for Roads, England 1980, to link the A69 to the A1(M) to the south.

An extension of the by-pass to the north was proposed by Tyne & Wear County Council.

This was one of the more recent improvements of the A1, and it came after the demise of the Road Construction Units and in a time when government policy brought about the transfer of work from counties to consulting engineers.

This scheme was awarded to Bullen and Partners.

When they took over in 1981 the scheme had been in preparation for about four years although the route was first suggested in 1936 and a corridor was reserved in the development plan for the area in 1945. Residential development then took place on either side of the corridor.

It was a good example of a far sighted planning judgement long before the days of sophisticated traffic forecasting and cost benefit analysis.

After public consultations, a preferred route had been announced in 1981 which linked the Great North Road near Gosforth to Scotswood Bridge across the Tyne. Soon after work started on the scheme, some improvements were made to the design would be worthwhile.

In particular, Scotswood Bridge was not in very good condition and the approach roads on the south bank, connecting to the Gateshead Western By-pass were tortuous, substandard for the expected traffic flows. A re-alignment was proposed with a new bridge crossing of the Tyne and a new length of road to the south, providing a much better connection near Gateshead.

In due course, after much analysis and scrutiny, the Department accepted this proposal and thus was Blaydon Bridge conceived.



The 11km by-pass joins the present trunk roads north and south of Newcastle and Gateshead connecting with the key radial routes from the West such as the A69 and A696. The scheme relieving the existing Tyne Bridge, removed traffic from the town improving the environment, and assisted in the planned urban regeneration.

The alignment follows the western edge of the Newcastle / Gateshead conurbation, from the former A69 River Derwent bridge to the A1 north to the Gosforth area in Newcastle.

Blaydon Bridge was to be the latest addition to a collection of notable Tyne bridges for which Newcastle is justly famous, and there are seven grade separated interchanges to give access to the existing road network.

The by-pass was designed to carry 50,000 vehicles per day and is dual two lane, with a third lane on each carriageway between interchanges from Scotswood Road to Ponteland Road. All the interchanges are two level and access is via slip roads.

Permanent road signs on gantries and at the side of the road show primary destinations for drivers. Lighting has been provided along the entire length of the by-pass.

It was predicted that the reduction of traffic on adjacent roads would prevent at least two fatalities and thirty serious injuries every year. Ten footbridges and subways separate pedestrians from the traffic on the by-pass and its side roads.

Before construction started, 1200 homes were provided with noise insulation. Earth bunds and concrete screening walls were constructed to reduce traffic noise and there has been extensive planting of trees and shrubs. Although the corridor had been protected for the scheme, designing the road to modern standards required the demolition of 66 houses.

On a historic note, where the route crosses the remains of Hadrians Wall, in conjunction with English Heritage, stone sets and a plaque were provided to mark the line of the wall.

The importance of nature conservation is also reflected in the scheme. At Derwentaugh the embankment has been founded on a 2 m layer of inert rock to prevent contamination of the adjacent Shibdon Pond Nature Reserve.

Diversion of major services were carried out in advance of the main construction contracts at a cost of £12 million.

The total cost of the scheme was some £88 million of which £23 million was provided by the European Community's Regional Development Fund.

Because the project was so large and diverse the construction of the by-pass was divided into four contracts, Contracts 1 and 3 being awarded to Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd, Contract 2 was awarded to Edmund Nutall Ltd and Contract 4 went to Birse Construction Ltd.

Contract 4 was commenced by Birse in Feb 1987 as an advanced works contract in order to prepare a 1km long section of the Contract 3 route at Derwenthaugh, where 8m high embankments were to be constructed over deep deposits of soft alluvial silts and clays.

The purpose of the advanced earthworks was to squeeze the ground by surcharging and accelerate its settlement by drainage of water from the clay through vertical sand drains. During embankment construction, 24,000 vertical sand drains with a total length of 210km were installed on a grid layout with instrumentation for monitoring ground behaviour. Until the ground was sufficiently stabilised, the road could not properly be built and it was predicted that the process would take at least six months.

On 24th April 1987, the advance works commenced and the project was formally inaugurated by John Moore, who was Secretary of State for Transport at that time.

Contract 1 - Etal Lane to North Brunton started in August 1987. It comprises 5.6km of dual two lane road interchanges at North Brunton, Kingston Park and the A696 Ponteland Road. It was opened to traffic three months early on 1st March 1990 by Robert Atkins, MP, then the Minister for Roads and Traffic.

Contract 1A - Fawdon Railway Bridge. A scheme was proposed which took the road over one of the busy Newcastle Metro railway lines at Fawdon. This was much cheaper than putting the road underneath but required a length of embankment through a sensitive suburb.

At the public enquiry local residents and their councillors objected to this intrusion and in his report, the Inspector recommended that despite the increased cost, the underpass arrangement should be preferred, and so it was. Cementation were awarded the contract for its construction.



The main problem with inserting a bridge in a railway line is keeping the trains running without interruption. This usually means that the new bridge has to be rolled into position sideways and the line quickly reconnected during a short period when there are no trains. British Rail had employed them on several occasions, in particular during the construction of the M56 and the Weaver Viaduct.

In those days, the customary method involved supporting the rail tracks on steel beams across trenches or pits protected by sheet piling, in which the bridge foundations could be built below. The new deck would be built alongside on temporary tracks and rolled sideways, often on steel balls. During the 70's a new technique had developed, based on a system of thrust boring started by Jim Thompson and his firm, Tube Headings, who were ultimately merged with Cementation Projects Ltd.

Originally intended for jacking concrete pipes and subways, the system was developed and extended to railway bridge construction. Large square or rectangular concrete boxes, with steel cutting edges were constructed in pits below the railway line and installed under the track by progressive jacking and excavation using tunnelling methods.

Cementation had patented a simple but effective refinement, not hitherto spotted by their competitors. Friction was substantially reduced during the jacking process by progressively unrolling a reinforced rubber or plastic sheet, (for example, conveyor belting) between the top of the box and the soil. As a result, Cementation had successfully completed a number of bridges for British Rail and with their patented system, gained a near monopoly in this small but specialised market.

It was decided that the safest, surest and least expensive way of implementing the work would be for Cementation Projects to design and construct the bridge.

The Department of Transport were vigorously opposed to the idea that a contract should be let without competition. It took a lot of verbal and written persuasion to secure the required result. Ultimately, it was agreed that Bullens would employ Cementation as sub-contractors for the design and would retain full responsibility. Cementation would be managing contractors, with a negotiated fee but would sub-contract the whole of the civil engineering work by competitive tendering.

A contract was let on this basis in November 1987, the work proceeded well and the bridge was rolled in during March 1989, the programmed date, with no interruption to commuter services.


NB - The above details are reproduced here, "Courtesy of the Motorway Archive Trust". Details of the work in connection with CONTRACT 2 (Blaydon Bridge and Blaydon Haughs Viaduct) will be shown in a later part of this series.

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#30 ·
Does anyone know if there is any plans still to widen the A1 through Gateshead- a while ago it was mentioend they would increase it to 3 lanes- without actually widening it by creating (very) narrow lanes and reducing the speed limit. Is this still planned or is it all on hold until after the spending review? In reality when there is spending reductions any plans in the North East will be the first to be scrapped in order to keep the traffic in London and Moanchester- Leeds moving.
 
#31 · (Edited)
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Building the Newcastle Western Bypass (1987-1990)
Part 6


Department of Transport : Newcastle Western Bypass Newsletter No 4 - August 1989

(incorporating a little bit of information about the other major road being built through Newcastle, at almost exactly the same time : The 'Woolsington Bypass'.)










ALSO . . . Additional information, courtesy of the "Motorway Archive Trust" . . .


Principally concerning CONTRACTS 2 & 3 : Newcastle Western Bypass.

DATES - 1987 to 1989 . . .


Contract 2

Blaydon Bridge and Blaydon Haughs Viaduct commenced in November 1987.

Blaydon Bridge . . . is a five-span pre-stressed concrete structure, constructed using the balanced cantilever technique, with a main navigation span over the Tyne of 108m.

Several possible designs were prepared, evaluated and compared. Some were discarded on account of unsatisfactory appearance and the final choice for the river bridge was between a steel cable stayed bridge and a prestressed concrete box structure.

The concrete alternative was thought to be slightly cheaper to build and was selected.



A similar comparison was made of designs for the approach viaduct and the final choice was a system of welded steel plate girders with a reinforced concrete deck.

At the end of the day, choosing the design for a major bridge structure is a matter of engineering judgement, perhaps influenced by personal preferences. Although it is essential to estimate quantities of materials and costs, other factors, including appearance and ease of building, are equally important.

Although the costs of the selected design when built are precisely known, the estimated cost of an unbuilt alternative concept remains theoretical and untested. Contractors are nowadays free to offer and alternative design at the tender stage and are frequently successful, as was the case for the Tweed bridge at Berwick.

When the job was put out to tender in August 1987 one firm offered a steel bridge but the purported price margin was slim, the appearance unsatisfactory and the projected costs of maintenance too high.

So Edmund Nuttall Ltd. were awarded the contract and commenced work in November 1987, working exactly to the contract drawings.

The inevitable unexpected happened during the excavation, in a cofferdam, for the southern main pier, whose foundation was planned to sit on sound sandstone rock below the river bed. In two corners, totalling about a quarter of the load bearing area, the rock was not good enough. It was broken up and mixed with sand and clay, probably the result of ancient glacial activity.

It was decided that the pier foundation would be strengthened by piling. The preferred solution was a large number of mini-piles using small drilling rigs which could operate from the bottom of the hole, inside the cofferdam.

The consequences of the unforeseen change of design were considerable. There could be a delay of about six months, prejudicing the 1990 completion date, and costs would increase substantially.

However, Edmund Nuttall Ltd were authorised to increase resources to recover lost time although this would incur further expense. The work proceeded satisfactorily, and the construction of the superstructure by cantilevering followed.

Blaydon Haughs Viaduct . . . is a 17-span steel viaduct carrying the by-pass over A695 Chainbridge Road and the Newcastle-Carlisle railway line.



It is 530m long and the deck incorporates 2,100 tonnes of structural steelwork, supported on 3,500 tonnes of steel H-piles.

Contract 3

Derwenthaugh to Etal Lane commenced in June 1988. This is the largest contract on the by-pass, extending north and south of the River Tyne and 40% of its £25 million tender value was for structures.

These included seven road bridges, eight footbridges, eight subways and over 3km of retaining walls. The wall of Scotswood slip road is 12m high and of ''reinforced earth'' construction using compacted pulverised fuel ash reinforced with polypropylene strips.

There are interchanges north of the Tyne at Stamfordham Road, the A69 West Road and Scotswood Road and south at the Tyne and Derwenthaugh Road.

Coal mining is an important feature of Tyneside's history and extensive old mine workings have been encountered along the by-pass route.

Shallow seams were excavated and filled with compacted soil and deeper workings drilled and injected with cement and pulverised fuel ash grout. Old mineshafts were filled and capped with reinforced concrete.



FINALLY - Here are some Newcastle Western Bypass construction photos from 1990, and a couple of pre-construction photos (from the planned route) from 1983.

ALL are from the "Old Pictures of Newcastle's West End" Website, on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Pictures-Of-Newcastles-WEST-END-categorized/150729531607278?ref=nf
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Here is the 'Copperas Lane' area of the proposed Newcastle Western Bypass route - in 1983 . .




and here is the same 'Copperas Lane' in 1990 . .



Three photos of the Western Bypass/West Road junction and roundabout, under construction in 1990. The first one is looking South . . .


and the next two are looking North . .




The Newcastle Western Bypass, under construction, approaches the (as yet unbuilt) BLAYDON BRIDGE . .


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#32 ·
Excellent stuff, NH, and much appreciated.

The Blaydon Haughs section used to be notorious for an appalling rancid smell, which I believe came from the Co-operative Creamery thereabouts. And Blaydon Bridge is an appalingly dull design. Surely something carrying the A1 over the coaly Tyne should be a bit more of a landmark.
 
#33 ·
Wow NH, really interesting. I remember as a small child going to see the blaydon viaduct being constructed, (embarrassingly) asking to go look at the bridge being built on regular occasions! Its amazing to think that we take it for granted (and at the same time hate queuing across it) and its a relatively new road - imagine life without it, traffic through town would be even more unbearable!
 
#34 ·
^^

Just thought I'd let you know that I have today added SEVEN new photos to my post of a few days ago (Part 6 of the 'Building of the Newcastle Western Bypass' Series) courtesy of the Old Photos of Newcastle's West End Website, on Facebook.

Also, THANKS very much for the comments, Wilf and kedos. They are very much appreciated, and I am glad you are enjoying the series.

The next part (Part 7) will be on this thread towards the end of the coming week . .
 
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