aerial photograph of Swing Bridge over the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Grade II listed River Tyne Swing Bridge was opened in 1876 and designed by to William Armstrong. The bridge is hydraulicly powered and the Victorian engineering is still in full working order more than 100 years after it was built. The pridge stands on the site of previous bridges built over the River Tyne in 1270 and 1781. There was also a Roman bridge, Pons Aelius, which may very well have stood on the same site.