Scotswood Railway Bridge

The present bridge, now disused, is the third on this site. The first, of 1839, was by John Blackmore for the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, a timber truss bridge with eleven spans each of 18.2 metres; it burned down in 1860 during a Board of Trade inspection. A temporary bridge replaced it and lasted until 1871 when the present bridge, with wrought iron hog-back girders each of 38.6 metres on cast iron cylinder piers, was opened. The railway bridge was built as part of the important development of the Newcastle to Carlisle Railway and was sanctioned by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Act of 1829. The bridge closed in 1982 since when trains have used the line along the south bank and crossed the river on the King Edward and High Level Bridges.