founded 1875 headquarters northamptonshire uk products bridges heavy lifting equipment website www.dormanlongtechnology.com dorman long is an engineering consultancy and equipment manufacturer for the construction of long span bridges power stations refineries offshore structures stadia and other large building structures . originally based in middlesbrough north east england the company was a major steel producer later diversifying into bridge building . dorman long was once listed on the london stock exchange . contents 1 history 2 iron and steel 3 bridge building 4 dorman museum 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the company was founded by arthur dorman and albert de lande long when they acquired west marsh iron works in 1875 . 1 in the 1920s dorman long took over the concerns of bell brothers and bolckow and vaughan and diversified into the construction of bridges . 2 in 1938 ellis hunter took over as managing director and he continued to lead the business until 1961 . 3 tyne bridge in 1967 dorman long was nationalised along with 13 other british steel making firms becoming subsumed into the government owned british steel corporation . in 1982 redpath dorman long the engineering part of the business was acquired by trafalgar house who in 1990 merged it into cleveland bridge & engineering company in darlington . 4 in 2000 there was a management buyout of cleveland bridge which led to the formation of dorman long technology dlt in august 2000 . dlt was formed as an amalgamation of the cleveland bridge engineering office with an outside construction consultant lowther rolton and a heavy lift contractor zalcon both of whom had been working closely with cleveland bridge throughout the 1990s . dlt is now an independent company registered in the uk carrying out bridge design and construction engineering together with design and supply of heavy lifting equipment for the construction of bridges refineries power stations wind farms offshore drilling rigs large roofs and other large pre assembled structures . 5 iron and steel edit iron making has been known in cleveland since the romans found iron slags in north yorkshire with small scale iron making known to have taken place at rievaulx and whitby abbeys and at gisborough priory in the 17th century . some of the key events connected with iron making in cleveland 1837 the first cleveland ironstone mine opens at grosmont for the losh wilson and bell ironworks . 1841 bolckow and vaughan open the first ironworks in middlesbrough . 1850 8 june the discovery of the cleveland main seam of ironstone at eston by ironmaster john vaughan and mining engineer john marley both of bolckow & vaughan . the cleveland iron rush begins . 1855 30 blast furnaces operate within six miles 10 km of middlesbrough . 1865 one million tonnes per annum tpa of iron are produced to make the area one of the world s major centres of iron production . 1875 number of blast furnaces increases to 100 producing two million tpa . 1879 sidney gilchrist thomas arrives in cleveland and introduces the first commercial steel . 1901 partial amalgamation of bell companies with dorman long . 1902 the first integrated steelworks involving conversion of iron ore to finished rolled steel shapes is built at cargo fleet . sydney harbour bridge and opera house 1917 the redcar steel plant is opened making steel in the open hearth process . 1918 cleveland works opens . 1924 dorman long wins the contract to build the sydney harbour bridge . 1928 9 dorman long takes over residues of bell and bolckow vaughan . 1946 dorman long purchases 600 acres 2.4 km2 of land between the redcar and cleveland works to build the lackenby development . 1967 dorman long south durham steel iron co and stewarts and lloyds come together to create british steel and tube ltd. 1967 the steel industry is nationalised and the british steel corporation is born . 1973 the existing redcar ironworks site development begins . 1979 the number of blast furnaces drops to one producing 3.3 million tpa . 1989 company is privatised becoming british steel plc. 1990 merged with the cleveland bridge & engineering company darlington . 1999 british steel plc merges with the dutch steel and aluminium company koninklijke hoogovens to become corus group . 2000 dorman long technology ltd formed as an independent company as part of a management buy out of cleveland bridge in august 2000 . 2015 former dorman long steel plant on teesside ceased production after ssi mothballed the redcar works following a global downturn in the price of steel and later announced its uk arm had gone into liquidation . 6 bridge building edit the most famous bridge ever constructed by a teesside company was dorman long s sydney harbour bridge of 1932 of similar construction to but not contrary to popular belief modelled on the 1928 tyne bridge a construction regarded as the symbol of tyneside s geordie pride but also a product of dorman long s teesside workmanship . the greatest example of dorman long s work in teesside itself is the single span newport lifting bridge a grade ii listed building . opened by the duke of york in february 1934 it was england s first vertical lift bridge . with a lifting span of 270 feet 82 m long by 66 feet 20 m wide it is constructed from 8000 tons of teesside steel and 28 000 tons of concrete with towers 182 feet 55 m high . the electrically operated lifting mechanism allowed the road to be lifted 100 feet 30 m in one and a half minutes by means of ropes passing through sheaves in the four corner towers . newport bridge is no longer raised or lowered ; it is a permanent road crossing the river tees . the following is a list of some of the bridges built by the dorman long it is not fully comprehensive . bridge location year notes omdurman bridge white nile sudan 1926 total length 2 012 feet 613 m 7 fixed spans one swing span 3700 tons desouk bridge lower nile egypt 1927 total length 2 010 feet 610 m 10 spans including 194 feet 59 m swing span 3800 tons tyne bridge newcastle england 1928 total length 1 254 feet 382 m approximately 8 000 tons road alfred beit bridge south africa 1929 total length 1 515 feet 462 m 1876 tons sydney harbour bridge sydney australia 1932 total length 3 770 feet 1 150 m total weight of fabricated steelwork 51000 weight of steel in the arch 38000 tons grafton bridge grafton nsw australia 1932 total length 1 309 feet 399 m road and rail it is a dual level bascule bridge the upper deck carrying a roadway and the lower level carrying the rail line and foot bridge . lambeth bridge london england 1932 total length 776 ft 237 m 5 spans 4620 tons road memorial bridge bangkok thailand 1932 total length 755 feet 230 m 1100 tons road khedive ismail bridge cairo egypt 1933 total length 1 250 feet 380 m 3000 tons newport bridge middlesbrough 1934 the central lifting span is 270 feet 82m long and 66 feet 20m wide weighing 5400 tons 6993 metric tonnes ; the towers are 182 feet 55m high . the total weight is 8 000 tons . birchenough bridge zimbabwe 1935 1242 tons . storstr m bridge denmark 1937 total length 10 535 feet 3 211 m 21000 tons railway and road chien tang river bridge china 1937 total length 3 840 feet 1 170 m 16 equal spans 4135 tons railway and road silver jubilee bridge runcorn and widnes england 1961 total length 1 582 feet 482 m road dorman museum edit in 1904 sir arthur dorman of dorman long gave the dorman museum to middlesbrough in honour of his youngest son george lockwood dorman an avid collector who was killed in the boer war . amongst the museum s many exhibits is a collection of ceramics from the local linthorpe pottery 7 which was renowned for its iridescent glazes that at the time were not produced anywhere else in europe . the museum has one of the largest collections of these highly distinctive ceramics in the world . see also edit cleveland bridge & engineering company references edit north east england history pages . talktalk.net . retrieved 22 october 2015 . tolliday steven 1987 . business banking and politics the case of british steel 1918 1939 . harvard university press . pp. 47 48 . scale and scope . google.co.uk . retrieved 22 october 2015 . cleveland bridge history dorman long technology home page . dormanlongtechnology.com . retrieved 22 october 2015 . terry macalister . redcar steelworks owner goes into liquidation threatening all 2 200 jobs . the guardian . retrieved 22 october 2015 . dorman museum . dormanmuseum.co.uk . retrieved 22 october 2015 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to dorman long . dorman long technology homepage dorman long information at structurae mine of information dorman long handbooks 1906 1924 & 1964 v t e original companies of ft 30 in the united kingdom as of 1 july 1935 associated portland cement austin motor bass bolsover colliery callenders cables & construction coats courtaulds distillers dorman long dunlop rubber electrical & musical industries fine spinners and doublers general electric company guest keen & nettlefolds harrods hawker siddeley imperial chemical industries imperial tobacco international tea co. stores london brick murex patons and baldwins pinchin johnson & associates rolls royce tate & lyle turner & newall united steel companies vickers armstrongs watney combe & reid f. w. woolworth & co retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dorman long & oldid 723330670 categories companies based in cleveland englandcompanies established in 1875companies formerly listed on the london stock exchangeconstruction and civil engineering companies of the united kingdomstructural steel1875 establishments in englandhidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to 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