Build a bridge or tunnel to cross the river Tyne in north east England
What can you tell me about it?
Including rail and footbridges there are 26 bridges over the river Tyne. The bridges between Newcastle and Gateshead are probably the best known.
The river is also crossed by the Tyne tunnel - a 2 lane road tunnel that connects Jarrow with North Shields.
Famous engineer Robert Stephenson’s High Level Bridge was the first to span the Tyne Gorge in 1850. The Gateshead Millennium Bridge was the most recent in 2001.
The Tyne Bridge built in 1928 is probably the most iconic. It’s known worldwide as a symbol of Tyneside.
Although the bridges and tunnel were built many years apart by different engineers they can be loosely viewed as a single project because they all have similar goals. They all aim to move people and goods quickly in a region which has been one of the UK's industrial centres for hundreds of years.
Difference the crossings have made
The High Level Bridge was a vital link in the railway network of its day. It meant there could now be a continuous and faster service between London, Berwick and Edinburgh. The Tyne Bridge eased traffic congestion on existing routes across the river when it opened in 1928.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a key part of the Newcastle/Gateshead Quayside regeneration project. A cycle and footbridge, thousands of people cross it every day.
The Tyne tunnel is actually 2 tunnels. The first opened in 1967 letting traffic bypass the congested city centres of Newcastle and Gateshead. As it became busier over the decades – peak hour delays of 30 minutes were common – a second tunnel was added in 2011 to smooth traffic flows at rush hour.
How the work was done
Ground conditions were a major challenge during construction of the High Bridge. Stephenson wrote in his journal that foundations were difficult to sink at high tide as the sand was too hard. Most of this work was done at low tide as a result. The bridge was made of cast iron to keep costs down.
TThe Tyne Bridge is similar in design to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia which opened 4 years later. The Cornish granite towers of the Tyne Bridge were intended as 5 storey warehouses but the inner floors were never finished.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge was lifted into place over the river by one of the world’s largest floating cranes. 6 hydraulic rams can tilt the bridge back to let tall ships pass. Its shape and movement have earnt it the nickname ‘the Blinking Eye’.
The onshore sections of the 2011 Tyne tunnel were built using the cut and cover method. This meant workers dug a trench, built the sides and then roofed it over. Under-river sections were prefabricated, floated out, and dropped into a trench. The sections were then covered with rocks.
Read more on the Tyne crossings
Provide a major water supply for industry and homes in the north east of England
What can you tell me about it?
The need for a major water storage scheme in north east England goes back to the mid 19th century when expanding industries on Tyneside and Teesside were demanding more water.
Reservoirs were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but by the 1960s it looked like demand would outstrip supply. Local industry such as British Steel required much greater volumes while domestic water usage was also rising due to growing prosperity.
The answer was the Kielder scheme, a regional water transfer system in the north east of England. It releases water from the reservoir at Kielder Water into local rivers.
The scheme means rivers such as the Tyne, Derwent and Tees can be kept at minimum levels even when rainfall has been low. This makes more water available downstream for domestic and industrial use.
The network is underpinned by Kielder Water. The 200bn litre reservoir is the biggest artificial lake in the UK by capacity. It's surrounded by Kielder Forest, the largest man-made woodland in Europe.
The scheme was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy a predicted rise in demand for water on the back of a booming UK industrial economy.
Although that boom never came the scheme continues to serve the north east of England. Water released from Kielder Water in Northumberland's North Tyne Valley can supply Tyneside and Teesside more than 80 miles away.
Kielder Water is also the site of Europe's largest hydroelectric plant. The dual-turbine power station produces an average 20,000MW of electricity a year.
Read more on the Kielder water scheme
Build a big reservoir to supply water to the manufacturing industries of Teesside
What can you tell me about it?
Cow Green is a 3km (2 miles) reservoir in County Durham. At 480m it's one of the highest placed in England.
The structure is 25.8m deep with a surface area of 3,219,000m². It serves a catchment area of 59km².
Cow Green is a regulatory reservoir. This means it releases water into the river Tees during dry conditions so that it can be removed further downstream.
Plans for the reservoir faced nearly a decade of protests as this part of Upper Teesdale was considered environmentally important. Campaigners were concerned that rare plants such as the Teesdale violet would be threatened by the project.
About a tenth of the Teesdale violet's habitat was destroyed by the reservoir's construction. The rest of the area was designated the Moor House-Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve – England's largest reserve of its type.
Cow Green was the last of 3 reservoirs built in the Tees Valley to meet the growing needs of local industry at the time. The others were Selset and Balderhead reservoirs. Selset was completed in 1960, Balderhead in 1965.
Difference the reservoir has made
Cow Green continues to supply water to thousands of homes and industries in Teesside to this day.
The expensive and protracted disputes in the years before the reservoir was built were viewed as contributing to a growing mistrust between the water industry and environmentalists.
How the reservoir was built?
Cow Green reservoir was created by building a dam at the point where a flat area of the river Tees crossed land near an old mine. The mine was previously dug for barium sulphate – a mineral used for making paint.
The first day's work on the project started with a bang when Sir Charles Allison, chairman of the local water board, hit the plunger on a detonator. This set off an explosion which blew a crater on the reservoir site.
Sir Charles may have chosen this violent start to the project to make a point. He was infuriated that environmental campaigners had delayed the reservoir for nearly 10 years.
The next 4 years saw engineers build the 25m high, 550m long dam to hold back 40,000m litres of water.
The project team paid close attention to the design of Cow Green's core following erosion problems with the clay core of recently completed Balderhead reservoir.
Engineers decided on sand drains for Cow Green as they thought this would cut down seepage from the reservoir. Sand drains use small particles to filter impurities from water.
Around 300 people made up the construction team.
Read more on the Cow Green reservoir