Albert Bridge, London
Albert Bridge | |
---|---|
lowest astronomical tide[1] | |
History | |
Designer | Rowland Mason Ordish, Joseph Bazalgette |
Opened | 23 August 1873 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 19,821 vehicles (2004)[2] |
Location | |
Albert Bridge is a
Built as a
Incorporating a roadway only 27 feet (8.2 m) wide, and with serious structural weaknesses, the bridge was ill-equipped to cope with the advent of the motor vehicle during the 20th century. Despite many calls for its demolition or pedestrianisation, Albert Bridge has remained open to vehicles throughout its existence, other than for brief spells during repairs. It is one of only two Thames road bridges in central London never to have been replaced (the other is Tower Bridge). The strengthening work carried out by Bazalgette and the Greater London Council did not prevent further deterioration of the bridge's structure. A series of increasingly strict traffic control measures have been introduced to limit its use and thus prolong its life. As a result, it is the second-least busy Thames road bridge in London; only Southwark Bridge carries less traffic.
In 1992, Albert Bridge was rewired and painted in an unusual colour scheme designed to make it more conspicuous in poor visibility, and avoid being damaged by ships. At night it is illuminated by 4,000
History
The historic industrial town of Chelsea on the north bank of the River Thames about 3 miles (5 km) west of Westminster, and the rich farming village of Battersea, facing Chelsea on the south bank, were linked by the modest wooden Battersea Bridge in 1771.[5] In 1842 the Commission of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues recommended the construction of an embankment at Chelsea to free land for development, and proposed a new bridge downstream of Battersea Bridge, and the replacement of the latter by a more modern structure.[6] Work on the Victoria Bridge (later renamed Chelsea Bridge), a short distance downstream of Battersea Bridge, began in 1851 and was completed in 1858, with work on the Chelsea Embankment beginning in 1862.[7] Meanwhile, the proposal to demolish Battersea Bridge was abandoned.[6]
The wooden Battersea Bridge had become dilapidated by the mid-19th century. It had grown unpopular and was considered unsafe.
Rowland Mason Ordish was appointed to design the new bridge.[10] Ordish was a leading architectural engineer who had worked on the Royal Albert Hall, St Pancras railway station, the Crystal Palace and Holborn Viaduct.[10] The bridge was built using the Ordish–Lefeuvre system, an early form of cable-stayed bridge design which Ordish had patented in 1858.[9] Ordish's design resembled a conventional suspension bridge in employing a parabolic cable to support the centre of the bridge, but differed in its use of 32 inclined stays to support the remainder of the load.[14] Each stay consisted of a flat wrought iron bar attached to the bridge deck, and a wire rope composed of 1,000 1⁄10-inch (2.5 mm) diameter wires joining the wrought iron bar to one of the four octagonal support columns.[15]
Construction
Although authorised in 1864, work on the bridge was delayed by negotiations over the proposed Chelsea Embankment, since the bridge's design could not be completed until the exact layout of the new roads being built on the north bank of the river had been agreed.[11] While plans for the Chelsea Embankment were debated, Ordish built the Franz Joseph Bridge over the Vltava in Prague to the same design as that intended for the Albert Bridge.[16][a]
In 1869, the time allowed by the 1864 Act to build the bridge expired. Delays caused by the Chelsea Embankment project meant that work on the bridge had not even begun, and a new Act of Parliament was required to extend the time limit.[11] Construction finally got underway in 1870, and it was anticipated that the bridge would be completed in about a year, at a cost of £70,000 (about £6.88 million in 2024).[13][16] In the event, the project ran for over three years, and the final bill came to £200,000 (about £18.9 million in 2024).[11][13] It was intended to open the bridge and the Chelsea Embankment in a joint ceremony in 1874, but the Albert Bridge Company was keen to start recouping the substantially higher than expected costs, and the bridge opened without any formal ceremony on 23 August 1873, almost ten years after its authorisation.[16] As the law demanded, the Albert Bridge Company then bought Battersea Bridge.[10][17]
Ordish's bridge was 41 feet (12 m) wide and 710 feet (220 m) long, with a 384-foot-9-inch (117.27 m) central span.
The bridge acquired the nickname of "The Trembling Lady" because of its tendency to vibrate, particularly when used by troops from the nearby Chelsea Barracks.[18] Concerns about the risks of mechanical resonance effects on suspension bridges, following the 1831 collapse of the Broughton Suspension Bridge and the 1850 collapse of Angers Bridge, led to notices being placed at the entrances warning troops to break step (i.e. not to march in rhythm) when crossing the bridge;[19][20][b] Although the barracks closed in 2008, the warning signs are still in place.[15][c]
Transfer to public ownership
Albert Bridge was catastrophically unsuccessful financially. By the time the new bridge opened, the Albert Bridge Company had been paying compensation to the Battersea Bridge Company for nine years, and on completion of the new bridge became liable for the costs of repairing the by then dilapidated and dangerous structure.[21] The cost of subsidising Battersea Bridge drained funds intended for the building of wide approach roads, making the bridge difficult to reach.[6] It was located slightly further from central London than neighbouring Victoria (Chelsea) Bridge, and demand for the new bridge was less than expected. In the first nine months of its operation £2,085 (about £206,000 in 2024) were taken in tolls.[13][21]
In 1877 the Metropolis Toll Bridges Act was passed, which allowed the Metropolitan Board of Works to buy all London bridges between Hammersmith and Waterloo bridges and free them from tolls.[22] In 1879, Albert Bridge, which had cost £200,000 to build, was bought by the Board of Works along with Battersea Bridge for a combined price of £170,000 (about £18.4 million in 2024).[13][23] The tolls were removed from both bridges on 24 May 1879,[9] but the octagonal tollbooths were left in place, and today are the only surviving bridge tollbooths in London.[24]
Structural weaknesses
In 1884 the Board of Works' Chief Engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette conducted an inspection of the bridge and found that the iron rods were already showing serious signs of corrosion.[18] Over the next three years the staying rods were augmented with steel chains, giving it an appearance more closely resembling a conventional suspension bridge,[15][25] and a new timber deck was laid, at a total cost of £25,000 (about £2.77 million in 2024).[9][13] Despite these improvements, Bazalgette was still concerned about its structural integrity and a weight limit of five tons was imposed on vehicles using the bridge.[16]
With a roadway only 27 feet (8.2 m) wide and subject to weight restrictions from early on, Albert Bridge was ill-suited to the advent of motorised transport in the 20th century. In 1926 the Royal Commission on Cross-River Traffic recommended demolition and rebuilding of the bridge to carry four lanes of traffic, but the plan was not carried out because of a shortage of funds in the Great Depression.[26] It continued to deteriorate, and in 1935 the weight limit was reduced to two tons.[26]
Because of its ongoing structural weaknesses, in 1957 the
Pedestrianised park proposal
The GLC's solution entailed adding two concrete piers in the middle of the river to support the central span and thus transform the bridge's central section into a beam bridge.[28] The bridge's main girder was also strengthened, and a lightweight replacement deck was laid. The modifications were intended to be a stopgap measure to extend the bridge's life by five years while a replacement was being considered; in the GLC's estimation the work would last for a maximum of 30 years, but the bridge would need to be either closed or replaced well before then.[29]
In early 1973, the Architectural Review submitted a proposal to convert Albert Bridge into a landscaped public park and pedestrian footpath across the river.[30] The proposal proved very popular with the area's residents, and a May 1973 campaign led by John Betjeman, Sybil Thorndike and Laurie Lee raised a petition of 2,000 signatures for the bridge to be permanently closed to traffic.[28] Although the GLC reopened the bridge to traffic in July 1973, it also announced its intention to proceed with the Architectural Review scheme once legal matters had been dealt with.[28][d]
The
Present day
In 1990, the tidal flow system was abandoned and Albert Bridge was converted back to two-way traffic. A
Between 1905 and 1981, Albert Bridge was painted uniformly green; in 1981 it was repainted yellow. In 1992 it was redecorated and rewired.
Except for
Refurbishment of 2010–2011
The bridge was closed to motor vehicles on 15 February 2010 for refurbishment and strengthening. It was originally expected to remain closed for approximately 18 months,[40] but after the condition of the bridge was found to be worse than expected, it was closed for 22 months.[41] All of the timber in the decking as well as the footway that had rotted away were replaced, with additional timber added for strengthening. Surfaces at the carriageway and pavement decking were replaced. New steel structures were added to strengthen the bridge. All the lightbulbs were changed to more energy-efficient ones. The tollbooths were refurbished. All twelve layers of paint were stripped down until the bare metal was exposed, which was repaired and treated before three new coats of paint were added. The whole project cost £7.2 million of which the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea provided 25% of the cost and the other 75% was provided by Transport for London.[42]
It re-opened on 2 December 2011, when two dogs named Prince and Albert, from nearby
In popular culture
Its distinctive and striking current appearance has led to its use as a backdrop for numerous films set in the Chelsea area, such as
See also
Notes
- Second World War, the Franz Joseph Bridge was replaced by a more conventional bridge in the 1950s. The Albert Bridge and the Franz Joseph Bridge were the only significant bridges built using the Ordish–Lefeuvre system; a third, smaller bridge was built in Singapore.
- British Pathe on 24 May 1954.[20]
- Millennium Bridgein 2000 shortly after its opening.
- Mile End Roadin East London.
- ^ Because of the lack of large open spaces on the north side of the river in this area, large numbers of dogs cross daily to be walked in Battersea Park.
References
Citations
- ^ "Thames Bridges Heights". Port of London Authority. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ Cookson 2006, p. 316.
- ^ "Name: Albert Bridge List entry Number: 1358138". Historic England. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ "Google Earth". earth.google.com.
- ^ Matthews 2008, p. 65.
- ^ a b c Roberts 2005, p. 130.
- ^ Roberts 2005, p. 112.
- ^ Roberts 2005, p. 63.
- ^ a b c d Davenport 2006, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e Matthews 2008, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cookson 2006, p. 126.
- ^ a b Davenport 2006, p. 72.
- ^ a b c d e f UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Smith 2001, p. 38.
- ^ a b c Tilly 2002, p. 217.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Matthews 2008, p. 72.
- ^ Cookson 2006, p. 123.
- ^ a b c d Cookson 2006, p. 127.
- ^ a b c Cookson 2006, p. 130.
- ^ a b "Severn Bridge Model – see 1min16sec into newsreel for a photo of the original 'break step' sign". British Pathe. 24 May 1954. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ a b Pay, Lloyd & Waldegrave 2009, p. 70.
- ^ Cookson 2006, p. 147.
- ^ "The Freeing of the Bridges". The Times. 28 June 1880. p. 12.
- ^ Quinn 2008, p. 237.
- ^ Roberts 2005, p. 131.
- ^ a b Roberts 2005, p. 132.
- ^ Albert Bridge Commercial Motor 24 March 1972
- ^ a b c d Matthews 2008, p. 73.
- ^ a b c Cookson 2006, p. 128.
- ^ a b Roberts 2005, p. 133.
- ^ Temko, Ned (20 August 2006). "Chelsea choked by its tractors". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ "Albert Bridge feeling the strain". BBC News. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ a b "Albert Bridge undergoes restoration study". Builder & Engineer. London. 17 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ Roberts 2005, p. 135.
- ^ Cookson 2006, p. 129.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1065576)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ Paige, Elaine (2 March 2008). "What's a girl to do against all this blah?". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ Roberts 2005, p. 134.
- ^ Pay, Lloyd & Waldegrave 2009, p. 71.
- ^ "Albert Bridge". The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea website. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ a b Osborne, Lucy (2 December 2011). "Drivers cross the Albert Bridge at last". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ^ "Albert Bridge restoration". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
Bibliography
- Cookson, Brian (2006). Crossing the River. Edinburgh: Mainstream. OCLC 63400905.
- Davenport, Neil (2006). Thames Bridges: From Dartford to the Source. Kettering: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85794-229-3.
- Matthews, Peter (2008). London's Bridges. Oxford: Shire. OCLC 213309491.
- Pay, Ian; Lloyd, Sampson; Waldegrave, Keith (2009). London's Bridges: Crossing the Royal River. Wisley: Artists' and Photographers' Press. OCLC 280442308.
- Quinn, Tom (2008). London's Strangest Tales. London: Anova Books. ISBN 978-1-86105-976-5.
- Roberts, Chris (2005). Cross River Traffic. London: Granta. ISBN 978-1-86207-800-0.
- Smith, Denis (2001). Civil Engineering Heritage London and the Thames Valley. London: Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0-7277-2876-0.
- Tilly, Graham (2002). Conservation of Bridges. Didcot: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-419-25910-7.
Further reading
- Loobet, Patrick (2002). Battersea Past. Historical Publications Ltd. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-948667-76-3.