Bridging the Thames

Here in England we had a spectacular event recently; as part of the celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee the River Thames played host to a flotilla of craft of all shapes and sizes. The pageant covered the seven miles betwee Albert Bridge and the world famous icon of Tower Bridge, which was opened especially for the event. This got me thinking about the rest of the bridges that span the Thames; here’s a short history of some of them in chronological rather than any upstream/downstream order. After Tower Bridge, perhaps the most famous is London Bridge itself; this spans the river between the City of London and Southwark on the south bank. It marks the oldest crossing point on the river although the current bridge dates to only 1973. The Romans were the first to make a crossing at this point in about 50AD, the original timber bridges were replaced with successive more substantial mediaeval constructions. By the end of the eighteenth century it became apparent that the 600 year-old bridge still in use was coming to the end of its life. The engineer John Rennie designed a bridge of five stone arches; building began in 1824 and was completed in 1831; the old bridge was kept in use during this construction but was eventually demolished once the new one had opened. However, this bridge began to show problems as early as the 1920s, not only was it inadequate to handle the increasing London traffic but it was also found to be slowly sinking. The local council took the unprecedented step in 1967 of putting the bridge up for sale. It was bought by American Robert P McCulloch for over two million dollars; it was subsequently dismantled and re-constructed at Lake Havasu, Arizona in 1971. The current bridge was built between 1967 and 1972 and officially opened by the Queen in 1973. After initial opposition, the building of a bridge at Westminster finally received parliamentary approval in 1736 and was built between 1739 and 1750, thereby connecting Westminster and Lambeth. Unfortunately this bridge also suffered the same fate as London Bridge and began to subside. By the mid-nineteenth century it was becoming too costly to maintain and repair so a new replacement was proposed. The current bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened in 1862. The aforementioned Albert Bridge connects affluent Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south. It is unusual in that it is a hybrid of three different design principles, a result of strengthening measures made throughout its life. Not long after it opened in 1873 it was found to be structurally unsound and the engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the designer of the London sewage system, was charged with bringing about a solution to the problem. Between 1884 and 1887 he added some of the design elements of a suspension bridge. In 1973 further strengthening took place when the council added two concrete piers making the central span a simple beam bridge. To this day it remains one of the quietest bridges due to restrictions in its use which are designed to prolong its life. Despite these measures the bridge continues to deteriorate due to traffic and rotting of the original wooden beams, believed to be caused by seepage of the urine of the many dogs that cross it to get to Battersea Park. Perhaps the most iconic of all the London bridges is Tower Bridge, opened in 1894 it connects Tower Hamlets and Southwark and is very close to the Tower of London from which it takes its name. It was needed to relieve pressure on the ageing London Bridge; however, it also had to allow passage for tall ships to get into the Pool of London. Inside each of the towers is a huge lifting mechanism that can lift up each half of the roadway (bascule) so that ships can pass safely through. It is used about a thousand times a year with shipping taking priority over road traffic. The high-level walkways house exhibitions and the bascule engine rooms are open to the public. I found the history of these bridges fascinating but have only had room to write about these four, maybe there is a sequel in the offing?

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