Sunderland's new bridge is a classy work of art

Youngsters from Diamond Hall Primary with teacher Chris Taylor from the new Wear Crossing, teacher Nic Charlton and Coun Michael Mordey.

Twenty pupils from Diaomnd Hall Junior School took part in a competition to celebrate the new bridge.

Nine-year-old Talented Sophie Harper was the top of the class, winning first place with her superb series of nine different bridges from around the world – including the Wear Crossing.

Made from a mix of collages, prints, stencils, paper mosaic, wax, paint and drawings, she even included her representation of ‘Monet’s Bridge’, as portrayed in the famous French artist’s Water Lilies series of paintings.

Sophie, from Pallion, said: “I really enjoyed doing all these pictures – I loved doing the dabbing and dotted bridge.

“It’s been great fun learning about the New Wear Crossing and looking at bridges from all over the world. It’s really exciting and I was very proud to win the competition.”

Head teacher Kim Bennett said: “We are so proud of the excellent range of entries. Being so close to the new bridge, we are really pleased it is helping to inspire the next generation of engineers, artists and authors.”

Runners-up included Mark Anderson from Year Three and Mark Simion from Year Six, who made a bridge sculpture and pop-up drawing of the new bridge.

City Council’s Cabinet Member for City Services Coun Michael Mordey led the judging team: “It was incredibly hard for us to pick a winner and runners-up because the standard of all the work was really high,” he said.

“I’d like to thank all the children from Diamond Hall Junior School for taking part.

“It is great to see so many local schoolkids getting excited about our new bridge here in Sunderland.”

Work on the bridge is progressing well, with the first phase of deck now in place and the cofferdam in the centre of the river, where the foundations to the bridge’s main A-frame pylon are being built, filled with almost 1,500 cubic metres of concrete.

The bridge will cross the River Wear between Castletown and Pallion and is part of the strategic transport plan to link the Port of Sunderland and city centre with the A19.