Tyne Tunnel: New firm may be brought in to finish refit

The tunnels allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross from Jarrow to Howdon

A new firm may be brought in to complete the refurbishment of the Tyne Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnels because the current contractor is stuck in Italy due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The refit of the tunnels should have been completed in 2015 and is £10m over budget.

Two new inclined glass lifts are still to be installed.

Engineers from Italian firm Maspero Elevatori have been unable to return to the UK to finish the job.

Councillors on Tyneside were told a UK-based company had been brought in to establish what needed to be done to make the lifts operational.

That firm could also be asked to carry out the work, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Not an easy job'

Fiona Bootle, Tyne Tunnels manager for Transport North East, said it had been difficult to find "the right type of specialist".

She told the North East Joint Transport Committee's Tyne and Wear sub-committee: "We are trying to look at other options, whether this UK lift specialist can do some work either subcontracted or directly contracted.

"That is yet to be decided, but they have carried out a very useful survey which took three weeks and has gone into a lot of detail on what final tasks are needed to be carried out on these lifts.

"It is not an easy job. They are very bespoke lifts that were made to fit inside that historical listed building tunnel."

The tunnels, which enable pedestrians and cyclists to cross from Jarrow to Howdon, reopened in August 2019.

It was hoped the lift works would be completed the following month. However, that target has been repeatedly pushed back.