Stockton Waterfront Urban Park

Stockton Waterfront Urban Park is a transformational scheme that will reconnect the High Street with the River Tees as part of a 25-year regeneration vision. 

Procured via NEPO, the project includes a striking land bridge over Riverside Road, an amphitheatre, flexible event spaces, and extensive landscaping to create an iconic destination for residents and visitors.

Esh is working alongside Ryder Architecture and Billinghurst George & Partners to deliver the project.

Representing a major capital project, work has included the construction of a 200m reinforced earth Tensar retaining wall, which saw more than 320 rigid inclusion piles support the walls during its construction. The A1305 carriageway has been lowered and realigned, developing a 55m road tunnel. 

The centrepiece to the urban park is a land bridge spanning Riverside Road which provides uninterrupted access from the High Street to the river, with a 7m drop down to the lower park from the High Street via an accessible amphitheatre structure. 45 prestressed concrete bridge beams, measuring 21.5 metres in length and weighing 17 tonnes, were installed alongside two edge beams which weighed 35 tonnes each. More than 2,100m³ of concrete was poured to form the bridge deck.

Hear more about the land bridge’s construction from Contracts Manager David Player.

So far, the project has provided 683 weeks of full-time employment for Stockton residents, with 75% of operatives from the Tees Valley. A total of 338 apprenticeship training weeks have been undertaken on site, with two T Level students from Middlesbrough College clocking up a combined 18 weeks.

A further 2,932 learner hours have been delivered through Esh’s bespoke Building My Skills employability workshops in local schools.

Community engagement initiatives include 96 hours of volunteering at Billingham’s John Whitehead Park and at The Six Fields, where a spring clean of the sites was provided, from boardwalk removal and cutting back overgrowth, to fixing broken fences and actioning general drainage and gardening works.

The local supply chain spend exceeds £3.6 million, supporting regional SMEs while sustainability initiatives include significant material reuse and a solar hybrid generator, reducing emissions and costs.