The world-famous Union Chain Bridge linking England and Scotland has officially reopened following a huge £10.5 million spruce-up.
The ambitious restoration took a solid three years, with the pandemic causing the odd delay here and there. It involved a full dismantling of the structure, with each and every piece being removed, checked, then either restored or replaced.
Authorities on both sides of the bridge and the National Lottery Heritage Fund all contributed funding for the repairs, alongside Museums Northumberland and the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge group. The process combined state-of-the-art technical engineering and techniques used in Alpine ski resorts, with traditional workmanship used when the bridge was first built.
Helen Featherstone, director for northern England at the National Lottery Heritage fund, called the bridge a ‘ground-breaking feat of engineering’.
‘The fact that [the bridge] remains such a significant landmark, and standout tourist attraction after more than 200 years, is a testament to the UK’s remarkable industrial heritage,’ she added.
At 202 years old, the Union Chain Bridge is thought to be the world’s oldest vehicle suspension bridge still in use. It opened in 1820 and was built by retired naval captain Samuel Brown, crossing the River Tweed between the village of Horncliffe in England and Fishwick in Scotland.
Robbie Hunter from the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge group said that the process had been very challenging, particularly with the interruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, now that work has been completed, Hunter added that the structure ‘will continue to serve the communities for another 200 years and act as a tremendous catalyst for inspiring the engineers of the future’.
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