Pictured in last Thursday's Echo letters pages, Hendon Junction Bridge was a landmark in industrial history, and focused international attention on the Port of Sunderland.
Sadly, it proved to be a relatively short-lived white elephant.
Officially opened on November 26, 1948, by Minister of Transport Alfred Barnes, the £85,000 aluminium alloy twin-leaf bascule bridge spanned Hendon Dock Junction and was the first of
its type in the world with aluminium moving parts.
Flying the signal "Completion – well done," the River Wear Commissioners (RWC) steam tug, Vedra, was the first vessel to pass officially through its raised leaves.
Construction of the bridge formed part of a series of key post-war improvement schemes by the RWC, one of which was the deepening of the junction between Hudson and Hendon Docks and widening of its entrance from 60 to 90 feet.
Plans included removing the existing bridge and re-erecting it over a railway cutting in connection with a proposed (but never completed) extension to Corporation Quay.
Head Wrightson Light Alloy Structures Ltd of Thornaby-on-Tees was contracted to design, construct and erect the new bridge, with company director and general manager, Mr FJ Walker, heading the design team.
Aluminium alloys were selected in consultation with the Aluminium Development Association, with plate being supplied by the British Aluminium Co Ltd. RWC engineer, Mr WHS Tripp, was responsible for overseeing the project.
Construction of the movable spans was completed at Thornaby in late August, 1948.
These were then shipped to Sunderland, with the first structure arriving at Hendon Dock on September 12. Within a month, both spans had been erected.
Designed for both road and rail traffic, the bridge had an overall length of 184 feet and weighed 54 tons.
Its twin leaves were operated by a pair of 25 bhp electric motors and could carry a 75-ton road trailer or 70-ton rail bogie.
Although fixed approach spans were of mild steel, the aluminium spans were only 40 per cent of the weight of an equivalent steel structure.
Unfortunately, the bridge failed to meet expectations, with widespread electrolytic corrosion, aggravated by the sea air, occurring where mild
steel rivets joined aluminium sections and plates.
It was demolished in 1977 after costly repairs or replacement by a new steel bridge had been ruled out.
The original Hendon Junction bridge had been built in 1866 by Sir WG Armstrong & Co during construction of Hendon Dock, which opened in 1868. Known as a single web girder bridge, the 100-ton wrought iron structure was about 100 feet long and designed to be lifted from its supports by a hydraulic ram and swung by handles.
It is unclear if this was the same bridge replaced by the 1948 bascule crossing.
