Tees Barrage Bridge, Cleveland
1995
The Tees Barrage, designed to retain a constant water level and provide vehicular access from the A66 and A19, is a catalyst for the regeneration of Teesdale, 100ha of derelict land along the River Tees close to Stockton town centre.
The scheme used the permanent water level created by the barrage as a focus for waterside development along new canals, a stream, lake and the riverside. The project involved master-planning and detailed design of the barrage, a navigation lock, a fish path, canoe slalom course, warm-up lake and caravan and camping site.
Barrage Design Competition
Teesside Development Corporation organised a competition for the architecture of the barrage. The centrepiece of The Napper Partnership’s winning entry was a tubular steel arch bridge crossing the barrage. The bridge had to carry the highest standard loading specified by the Department of Transport (45 units of HB loading) so that future industrial development would not be restricted by the capacity of the bridge. That highway load amounted to approximately 10 times the design load of the customary use, in roofing, of such unusual tubular structures.
Fact file
Client
Teeside Development Council
Architect
The Napper Partnership
Main Consultant
Montgomery Watson (UK) Ltd
Main Contractor
Tarmac Construction
Structural Engineer
Ove Arup & Partners
