ngerous and
difficult route, over the old bridge which crosses the river in the
bottom of the valley. For about 30 years the Newcastle Corporation had
discussed various methods of improving the communication between the
towns; and the discussion might have gone on for 30 years more, but for
the advent of railways, when the skill and enterprise to which they gave
birth speedily solved the difficulty and bridged the ravine. The local
authorities adroitly took advantage of the opportunity, and insisted on
the provision of a road for ordinary vehicles and foot passengers in
addition to the railroad. In this circumstance originated one of the
striking peculiarities of the High Level Bridge, which serves two
purposes, being a railway above and a carriage roadway underneath.

The breadth of the river at the point of crossing is 515 feet, but the
length of the bridge and viaduct between the Gateshead station and the
terminus on the Newcastle side is about 4000 feet. It springs from
Pipewell Gate Bank, on the south, directly across to Castle Garth, where,
nearly fronting the bridge, stands the fine old Norman keep of the _New_
Castle, now nearly 800 years old, and a little beyond it is the spire of
St. Nicholas Church, with its light and graceful Gothic crown; the whole
forming a grand architectural group of unusual historic interest. The
bridge passes completely over the roofs of the houses which fill both
sides of the valley; and the extraordinary height of the upper parapet,
which is about 130 feet above the bed of the river, offers a prospect to
the passing traveller the like of which is perhaps nowhere else to be
seen. Far below are the queer chares and closes, the wynds and lanes of
old Newcastle; the water is crowded with pudgy, black, coal keels; and,
when there is a partial dispersion of the great smoke clouds which
usually obscure the sky, the funnels of steamers and the masts of
shipping may be seen far down the river. The old bridge lies so far
beneath that the passengers crossing it seem like so many bees passing to
and fro.

The first difficulty encountered in building the bridge was in securing a
solid foundation for the piers. The dimensions of the piles to be driven
were so huge, that the engineer found it necessary to employ some
extraordinary means for the purpose. He called Nasmyth's Titanic
steam-hammer to his aid--the first occasion, we believe, on which this
prodigious power was employed in bridg