The old London Bridge was dismantled six years later when William IV and Queen Adelaide unveiled the New London Bridge. This London Bridge was constructed from granite sourced on Dartmoor. It was a five-arched edifice with overall proportions of 928 feet long and 49 feet broad. The new bridge was much needed because the old one had been destroyed by Dutch naval forces during the Battle of Pondicherry in 1674.
In addition to being a crossing over the River Thames, the bridge also served as a major road connecting Southwark with the City of London. Today, only the central pier remains, which forms part of the Thames Path. The area near the old bridge site now contains some of London's most popular tourist attractions including Borough Market, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and Tate Modern Gallery.
The total length of the old London Bridge was 813 feet. It was made up of three sections: the central section was 75 feet wide and 150 feet long; the south side section was 70 feet wide and 130 feet long; and the north side section was 70 feet wide and 120 feet long.
The weight limit for each vehicle that can use the old London Bridge is 20 tons. However, vehicles are not weighed in order to prevent non-commercial traffic from using the bridge.
The cost of building the new London Bridge was estimated at £525,000 (about $1.5 million today).
It took the place of the historic St. George's Bridge. The length of four of the arches is 43 feet 4 inches, while the length of the fifth and central arch is 46 feet 2 inches. The bridge spans 30 feet and is made of Grinshill sandstone. It measures 266 feet long in all. It was finished in 1795 at a cost of 8,000 pounds. The opening ceremony was held on November 16th with Queen Charlotte presiding.
Welsh Bridge is one of the three remaining cast-iron bridges in Europe (the others are the Blackfriars Bridge in London and the Haarlemmerdijk in Amsterdam). It is also one of only two surviving wrought-iron bridges in Britain (the other being the Menai Suspension Bridge) and one of the few remaining single-span suspension bridges in Europe. The bridge has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.
It is believed that the first proposal to build a new bridge across the River Severn came from John Ingleby, the Royal Engineer for Prince Edward, who suggested it in 1771. However, it wasn't until 1795 that the project was completed. The original bridge was built to replace an earlier wooden structure that had been destroyed by fire. The new bridge was constructed using material from the old bridge along with some new pieces of iron and steel. It was designed by Thomas Pritchard who also designed several other notable bridges in Great Britain including the Menai Suspension Bridge above Wales and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
This was preceded by a series of timber bridges, the earliest of which was erected by London's Roman founders...
| London Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Design | Prestressed concrete box girder bridge |
| Total length | 269 m (882.5 ft) |
| Width | 32 m (105.0 ft) |
| Longest span | 104 m (341.2 ft) |
The ninth Thames crossing is the Old Bridge, which dates back to 1170. It was previously known as The Stone Bridge because it was made of stone.
The current bridge stands in contrast to its predecessor: it's a wide, elegant structure with 13 arches. The Old Bridge was originally built by Henry III for his wife Queen Eleanor; they used timber for the first time in Europe when building it. The couple spent much of their marriage traveling around Europe, so they needed a bridge that would be easy to travel on. They wanted one that was long enough for horses and carriages to pass each other, so they could stay in royal residence while reports from officers throughout their kingdom came in. When building the bridge, they also thought about how people might live once it was completed. So, they included room under the bridge for merchants to store their goods.
In 1760, the old bridge was replaced by another made of stone but this time with iron girders. The new bridge was longer and had wider arches than its predecessor. It remains in use today, although it's now called the Southwark Bridge because it crosses over the River Southwark instead of the Thame.
The bridge was designed by William Baker, chief engineer of the London and North Western Railway, and inaugurated on March 2, 1863, at a cost of PS87,000 (equivalent to PS8,400,000 in 2019). It supports two tracks and is made up of five 120-foot (37-meter) lattice girder arches supported by stone piers. The longest single span is 123 feet (37 meters). The total length of the bridge is 933 feet (290 meters), and its main arch rises 87 feet (26 meters) above the water.
In addition to its functional role as a rail bridge, the Battersea Railway Bridge has been widely used for non-railway purposes because it provides a clear view of the river below. The structure has been featured in several films including The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and A Room with a View (1985). It also appeared in the background of many photographs taken by Walter Taper during the 1850s when he was making maps of London for the Ordnance Survey.
The Battersea Railway Bridge is one of only three bridges in Britain that can be crossed by both foot and road traffic. The other two are the Queensferry Crossing in Scotland and the Rainbow Bridge in Wales. They are all single-lane bridges, but those on the Firth of Forth and the Menai Strait have separate walkways for pedestrians and vehicles. The Battersea Bridge is only for pedestrians; drivers must use the nearby Westminster Bridge or Waterloo Bridge.
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