Remembering when Sunderland's Hylton Bridge first opened in 1974 as it marks 50 years of carrying us over the River Wear

But how many of you knew that it first opened 50 years ago this year, two years after its scheduled date.

Traffic crossed the bridge on one carriageway. At the time, it was the only carriageway which was open.

Two months until both carriageways were open

It took traffic in both directions until the second carriageway was completed about two months’ later.

The bridge was the final 1½-mile section of the Sunderland by-pass which also provided a direct link between Tyneside and Teesside.

It cost £2million to complete

This section of the by-pass, which cost £2 million to construct, extended northwards from an interchange on the Chester-le-Street to Sunderland road, near Offerton, to an interchange near Hylton Grange just north of the River Wear.

The bridge was designed to be 700 feet long with five spans and would carry the Sunderland by pass across the river in two three lane carriageways.

The Echo followed the progress of the bridge being built in the 1970s and here are those scenes once more.

Tell us about your Wearside memories from the 1970s by emailing [email protected]