In the eighteen thirties, with the advent of the coal trade and the subsequent growth in the local population, a considerable traffic sprang up between the two banks of the river and, to meet this need, a row-ferry service was established. This ferry continued as a private enterprise up to 1856 when a Local Act enabled the recently incorporated Middlesbrough Corporation (1853) to establish a public wharf and passage over the Tees.
In 1862 the Ferry Committee gave instructions for estimates to be obtained for a steam ferryboat. 'The Progress', a shallow-draught steam ferry, built of wood by Mr. Frederick Leach and licensed to carry 139 passengers, inaugurated the steam ferry crossing of the Tees.
In 1872 Mr. Charles Smith (Manager of the Hartlepool Ironworks) submitted a scheme to the council for a Bridge, with a span of 650 feet, (198 metres), and a headway of 150 feet, (45.7 metres) above high water level. Mr. Smith's scheme for bridging the Tees was on the transporter or aerial ferry principle, and he is credited as being the originator of the concept of this type of bridge. The cost of his novel method of transportation across the Tees was placed at £31,162. The Council however decided not to adopt the bridge scheme but rather, in 1874, commission 'The Perserverance' , the first boat to ferry horses and carts over the Tees. This ferry could carry 400 passengers and cost £2,975.
In 1884, the tender of Messrs Hepple and Co, of North Shields, was accepted for building the Ferry Steamer "Hugh Bell". The length of this vessel was 94 feet (28.6 metres), breadth 30 feet (9.1 metres), and draught 2 feet 10 inches (1 metre). She cost £6,050 and was licensed to carry 857 passengers.
In 1888, the Council accepted the tender amounting to £5,000 from Messrs Raylton Dixon and Company for the Ferry Steamer "Erimus". The Erimus was 95 feet long (28.9 metres) 30 feet broad (9.1 metres), with a draught of 3 feet 4 inches (1 metre), and was allowed by the Board of Trade to carry 927 passengers.
In 1901 the question of bridging the River on the present site was reconsidered and reference was made to the Transporter type of bridge which was already in successful operation abroad although it would be another five years before the idea was progressed in Middlesbrough.
The Council met Mon. Ferdinand Arnodin, of Chateau Neuf Sur Loire (the French pioneer Engineer of Transporter Bridges), on the 18 October 1906, and discussed with him the question of the erection of a bridge across the River Tees. They then adjourned their meeting to the 23 October, when Mr. Wm. E. Pease, Managing Director of the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co Limited and Mr. G.C. Imbault, their Engineer, attended. After fully discussing the matter the Company was appointed to act as Advising Engineers to the Corporation.
The Corporation successfully promoted a Bill in Parliament authorising them to construct a Transporter Bridge and to discontinue the ferry. This received the Royal Assent and passed into law on 4th July 1907.
Six firms responded to the invitation to tender, the successful bid being that of Sir William Arrol and Company Limited of Glasgow. The contract was signed on the 9th June 1909 for the sum of £68,026 6s 8d and the time allowed for construction and completion of the bridge was twenty-seven months.
Foundation stones of Aberdeen granite were laid on 3rd August 1910 by Lieut. Colonel T. Gibson Pool (Mayor) and Alderman Joseph McLauchlan (the initiator of the Transporter scheme). The bridge was opened on the 17th October, 1911 by Prince Arthur of Connaught and it was acknowledged as a remarkable piece of engineering.
The final cost of the Bridge was £84,000 and it was completed some 42 years after Charles Smith had produced his very first design for a Transporter Bridge.
Ninety years later the Transporter Bridge is still operating daily and provides an important link across the Tees.
History taken from the Middlesbrough Council website.
Further information can be found on the wiki page.
These last pictures were taken on my latest aquesition, a Nikon F65 film camera - these are 'straight from the can'
