The City of London owns and maintains five
bridges across the Thames - London Bridge ,
Tower Bridge , Blackfriars
Bridge , Southwark Bridge and, since
February 2002, the Millennium footbridge .
London Bridge
This is the oldest of the four. Various
wooden bridges stood on or near this site since before Roman times
but in 1176 a visionary cleric, Peter de Colechurch, decided to
build a revolutionary stone structure.
Its 19 arches stretched 900 feet across the Thames and took 33
years to build. Although Peter de Colechurch died before he could
see his vision turn into reality, his bridge stood for 655 years.
It was demolished in 1831-2 to make way for a bridge designed by
John Rennie the Elder which could cope better with the demands of
the growing City and Victorian road traffic. That bridge stood for
only 140 years until in 1971 it was sold to an American oil
company. It now stands in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, while the
wider, stronger London Bridge which replaced it still reaches
across the Thames today. The current bridge was designed by Mott,
Hay & Anderson with Lord Holford as architectural adviser.
Tower Bridge
An internationally-recognised landmark which to millions of
tourists epitomises London, Tower Bridge was built between 1886 and
1894. Apart from the Millenium footbridge, it is the most recently
constructed of the City of London-owned bridges. Its initial design
was by Horace Jones, with John Wolfe Barry as the engineer and
George D Stevenson as his architectural assistant. It was opened by
the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. In its heyday in
Victorian times the bridge would open more than 6,000 times a year;
now it opens for river traffic about 900 times a year.
During its construction Tower
Bridge was known as the Wonder Bridge because, as well as
being the largest, most sophisticated bascule bridge ever
built, it also used hydraulic power on a scale never attempted
before.
The steam-driven power system has since been replaced with a new
electric and oil hydraulic system but the bridge remains a wonder
to the half a million tourists who visit it every year.
Tower Bridge houses
an exciting exhibition which charts the history of the bridge and
enables you to explore the bridge's inner secrets and workings.
Click here
to visit the Tower Bridge Exhibition website.
For details of bridge opening times tel 020 7940 3984.
Blackfriars
This was the City of London's second bridge, opened in 1769 to
designs by Robert Mylne. It was replaced in 1869 by the present
iron and steel structure designed by Joseph Cubitt and H Carr. It
was widened between 1907 and 1910.
Southwark Bridge
Southwark bridge was originally built between 1814-1819 by John
Rennie the Elder and was purchased by the City of London in 1868.
The original cast iron structure was rebuilt in steel between 1912
and 1921 to a design by Mott & Hay as engineers and Sir Ernest
George as architect. It was reopened by King George V in 1921.
Millennium Bridge
The first new pedestrian bridge to be built across the Thames
for over a century, the Millennium footbridge links the City with
Bankside. Ownership of, and responsibiltiy for the bridge was
transferred to the City of London in February 2002, when the bridge
re-opened following successful remedial work to remove its 'wobble'
. Open thoughout the year, it provides an invaluable link between
communities north and south of the river. For more about the
Millennium Bridge, visit the Arup website.