An integral part of the Tyne and Wear Metro system and a now-familiar feature of the Tyneside skyline, the Byker Viaduct opened 40 years ago.
Along with the construction of the QEII Metro Bridge over the River Tyne, Byker Viaduct became a major engineering centrepiece as the system took shape between 1974 and 1980. The crossing was purpose-built to span the Ouseburn Valley, connecting the Metro system from the centre of Newcastle through to the east end of the city and on to the coast.
Construction took place between 1976 and 1979 and was one of the biggest civil engineering challenges in the building of the Metro system. The new bridge carried its first trains on November 11, 1982, when the St James to Tynemouth section of the Metro line first opened.
