Of Bridge1

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1.History

London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London

and Southwark, in centra London. Situated between Cannon Street Raiway Bridge

and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the !oo of London. "n the south

side of the bridge are Southwark Cathedra and London Bridge station# on the

north side are the $onument to the %reat &ire of London and $onument tube

station.

't was the ony bridge over the Thames downstream from (ingston unti !utney

Bridge o)ened in 1*+. The current bridge o)ened on 1* $arch 1*- and is the

atest in a succession of bridges to occu)y the s)ot and caim the name.

The bridge carries )art of the - road, which is maintained by the %reater London

uthority# the bridge itsef is owned and maintained by Bridge House /states 0see

City Bridge Trust, an inde)endent charity overseen by the City of London

Cor)oration. The area between London Bridge and Tower Bridge on the south sideof the Thames is a business im)rovement district 0B'2 and is managed by Team

London Bridge.3-4

bridge has e5isted at or near the )resent site since the Roman occu)ation neary

+666 years ago. The 7rst bridge across the Thames in the London area, )robaby a

miitary )ontoon bridge, was buit of wood by the Romans on the )resent site

around 2 86.

round 2 88, a )ied bridge was constructed, and the Romans buit a sma

trading settement ne5t to it9the town of Londinium. The settement and the bridge

were destroyed in a revot ed by :ueen Boudicca in ;6. Her victory was shortived,

and soon afterwards the Romans defeated the rebes and set about buiding a new

waed town. Some of the +ndcentury Roman wa has survived to this day. The new

town and bridge were buit around the )osition of the )resent bridge, and gave

access to the southcoast )orts via Stane Street and


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direction in 11*;. cha)e was buit near the centre of the bridge 0dedicated to the

recenty martyred and canonised Becket who, a))ro)riatey, had been born in the

)arish of St $ary Coechurch. St. Thomas Cha)e was grander than hitown

)arish churches# it even had a rivereve entrance for 7shermen and those who

ta5ied )assengers across the river. The new bridge took -- years to com)ete and

was 7nished in 1+6, during the reign of (ing Eohn. Eohn icensed the buiding ofhouses on the bridge, as a direct means of deriving revenue for its maintenance, an

d it was soon coonised by sho)s.

The medieva bridge had 1 sma arches and a drawbridge with a defensive

gatehouse at the southern end. Contem)orary )ictures show it crowded with

buidings of u) to seven stories in height. The narrowness of the arches meant that i

t acted as a )artia barrage over the Thames, restricting water Fow and thereby

making the river more susce)tibe to freeGing over in winter because of the sower

currents. The current was further obstructed by the addition of waterwhees

0designed by !eter $orice under the two north arches to drive water )um)s, and

under the two south arches to )ower grain mis. This )roduced ferocious ra)ids

between the )iers or starings of the bridge, as the dierence between the water

eves on each side coud be as much as si5 feet 0two metres.3;4 "ny the brave or

foohardy attem)ted to shoot the bridge9steer a boat between the starings9and

A many were drowned trying to do so. s the saying went, the bridge was for wise

men to )ass over, and for foos to )ass under.3*4


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This )edestrian acove, now in =ictoria !ark,

Tower Hamets is one of the surviving fragments

of the od London Bridge that was demoished in 1-1.

The decision of (ing Eohn to aow sho)s to be

buit on London Bridge sowed down the traIc

crossing the river. The houses and sho)s took u)

s)ace and coud draw crowds, and when carts

broke down or animas misbehaved, crossing the

bridge coud take u) to an hour. &or this reason,

)eo)e on foot often chose to use the doGens of

river ta5i boats that >uicky ferried Londoners

from shore to shore. though the bridge itsef was about +; feet 0 m wide, the

buidings on the bridge took u) about * feet 0+ m on each side of the street. Some

of

these buidings )roJected another seven feet out over the river. The road for traIc

was thereby reduced to Just 1+ feet 0A m wide. This meant that horses, carts,wagons, and )edestrians a shared a )assageway Just si5 feet wide, one ane going

north and one south. There were a few )aces where houses and sho)s were not

buit, which aowed )eo)e to get out of the traIc and enJoy a gim)se of the river

and the shoreines of London.

@eary +66 )aces of business ined both sides of the narrow street. e and beer

were not sod on the London bridge because these beverages re>uired cears, whic


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h

were not )resent. The merchants ived above their sho)s and sod goods from the

streeteve Foor. They used windows to show their goods and transact business#

over each sho) hung a sign usuay in the sha)e of the artices sod, in order that th

e

iiterate coud recognise the nature of the business. These signs were )osted highenough that a rider on a horse coud )ass beneath them9 every inch of the sma

street had to be avaiabe to vehicuar traIc. $any of the to) Foors of the houses

and sho)s were buit over the street and actuay connected to the house or sho)

across the street, giving the street a tunne ook. The gates to London Bridge were

cosed at curfew, and the bridge was regarded as a safe )ace to ive or sho).

Located within the Jurisdiction of the City of London )arish of St $agnus and the

Southwark )arish of St "ave, the Bridge community was amost a town unto itsef.

'n 1+A, after many years of ega dis)ute, the City of London gained eective

contro and instituted the Bridge House /states trust City Bridge Trust to maintain

it from the oder revenues and new endowments. The Bridge House stemmed from

the site of !eter de Coechurch?s origina house, i.e. maintenance de)ot and 8

residence for his monastic brethren of the bridge, ne5t to St "ave?s church in

Southwark, a site sti marked by the street name Bridge Kard.

=arious arches of the bridge coa)sed over the years, and houses on the bridge wer

e burnt during


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The @orthern %ate, the @ew Stone %ate, was

re)aced by @onsuch House in 18**. The southern gatehouse, the Stone %ateway,

became the scene of one of London?s most

notorious sights a dis)ay of the severed

heads of traitors, im)aed on )ikes314 and

di))ed in tar to )reserve them against theeements. The head of uare stone,

si5ty feet high and thirty broad, Joined by arches of about twenty feet

diameter. The whoe is covered on each side with houses so dis)osed as

to have the a))earance of a continued street, not at a of a bridge.

N)on this is buit a tower, on whose to) the heads of such as have been

e5ecuted for high treason are )aced on iron s)ikes we counted above thirty.. O

The )ractice was 7nay sto))ed in 1;;6, foowing the Restoration of (ing Chares

''.

The buidings on London Bridge created a maJor 7re haGard and served to increase

the oad on its arches, both of which may have contributed to the severa disasters

on the bridge. 'n 1+1+, )erha)s the greatest of the eary 7res of London broke out

on both ends of the bridge simutaneousy, tra))ing many in the midde and

re)ortedy resuting in the death of -,666 )eo)e. nother maJor 7re broke out in

1;--, destroying the northern third of the bridge, athough this )revented the bridge ;

from being damaged by the %reat &ire of London in 1;;;. By 1*++, congestion was

becoming so serious that the Lord $ayor decreed that a carts, coaches and other

carriages coming out of Southwark into this City do kee) a aong the west side of

the said bridge and a carts and coaches going out of the City do kee) aong the

east side of the said bridge. This has been suggested as one )ossibe origin for the

)ractice of traIc in Britain driving on the eft.34

&inay, under an ct of !ariament dated Eune 1*8;, )ermission was obtained to

demoish a the sho)s and houses on London Bridge. 'n 1*8P;+, the houses were

removed aong with the two centre arches, re)aced with a singe wider s)an toim)rove navigation on the river


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1.+@ew 01thcentury London Bridge @ew London Bridge in the eary 16s

By the end of the 1th century, it was a))arent that the od London Bridge

9 by then over ;66 years od 9 needed to be re)aced. 't was narrow and decre)it, and bocked river

traIc. 'n 1*, a com)etition for designs to re)ace the od bridge was

hed, )rom)ting the engineer Thomas Teford to )ro)ose a bridge with a

singe iron arch s)anning ;66 feet 016 m. However this design was

never used, because of uncertainty about its feasibiity and the amount of and

needed for its construction. The bridge was eventuay re)aced by a structure of

7ve stone arches, designed by engineer Eohn Rennie. The new bridge was buit

166 feet 0-6 m west 0u)stream of the origina site by Rennie?s son of the same

name.


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Surrey. fragment from the od bridge is set into the tower arch inside St

(atharine?s Church, $erstham.

Rennie?s bridge had a ength of + feet 0+- m and a width of A feet 018 m.

Haytor granite was used in the construction, trans)orted via the uni>ue Haytor

%ranite Tramway. The oIcia o)ening took )ace on 1 ugust 1-1# (ing uarried and dressed for this widening, but unused, sti ie near Swetor :uarry

on

the disused raiway track a cou)e of mies south of !rincetown on 2artmoor. 'n t

he end, the widening work )roved too much for the bridge?s foundations# it was

subse>uenty discovered that the bridge was sinking an inch 0about +.8 cm every

eight years. By 1+A, the east side of the bridge was some three to four inches 0

about

cm ower than the west side# it soon became a))arent that this bridge woud

have to be removed and re)aced with a more modern one.


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1.-Sae of Rennie?s bridge to Robert $cCuoch

'n 1;*, the Common Counci of the City of London )aced the bridge on the

market and began to ook for )otentia buyers. Counci member 'van Luckin had

)ut forward the idea of seing the bridge, and recaed They a thought ' was

com)etey craGy when ' suggested we shoud se London Bridge when it needed

re)acing. "n 1 )ri 1;, Rennie?s bridge was sod to the $issourian

entre)reneur Robert !. $cCuoch of $cCuoch "i for NS+,A;6,666. The caim

that $cCuoch beieved mistakeny that he was buying the more im)ressive Tower

Bridge was denied by Luckin in a news)a)er interview.3114 s the bridge was taken

a)art, each )iece was numbered to aid reassemby. The bridge was reconstructed

at Lake Havasu City, riGona, and rededicated on 16 "ctober 1*1. The

reconstruction of Rennie?s London Bridge s)ans the Bridgewater Channe canathat eads from Lake Havasu to Thomson Bay, and forms the centre)iece of a them

e )ark in /ngish stye, com)ete with a Tudor )eriod sho))ing ma. Rennie?s

London Bridge has become riGona?s secondbiggest tourist attraction, after the

%rand Canyon. 3


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Rennie?s "d London Bridge during reconstruction at Lake Havasu in $arch

1.A$odern London Bridge

The current London Bridge was designed by $ott, Hay and nderson. The senior

engineer was an Sim)son4, the su)erstructure was designed by a team ed by

$ichae Leeming, and foundations by a team ed by (eith !ontin. The bridge was

constructed by contractors Eohn $owem and Co3184 from 1;* to 1*+, and o)ene

d by :ueen /iGabeth '' on 1* $arch 1*-.

31;4 't com)rises three s)ans of )restressedconcrete

bo5 girders, a tota of + feet 0+- m ong. The bridge?s ights were made

from @a)oeon?s cannons. The bridge was buit to be functiona and ongived, and,

as such, it is noticeaby ess decorated than other Thames bridges. The cost of QA

miion 0QA+.1 miion as of +611,3164 was met entirey by the City Bridge Trust

charity. The current bridge was buit in the same ocation as Rennie?s bridge, with

the )revious bridge remaining in use whie the 7rst two girders were constructed

u)stream and downstream. TraIc was then transferred onto the two new girders,

and the )revious bridge demoished to aow the 7na two centra girders to be

added.31*4


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'n 1A, the British warshi) H$S Eu)iter coided with London Bridge, causing

signi7cant damage to both shi) and bridge. "n Remembrance 2ay +66A, various

London bridges were furnished with red ighting as )art of a nighttime Fight aong

the river by wartime aircraft. London Bridge was the one bridge not subse>uenty

stri))ed of the iuminations, which are switched on at night. The current London

Bridge is often shown in 7ms, news and documentaries showing the throng ofcommuters Journeying to work into The City from London Bridge Station 0south to

north. recent e5am)e of this is actor Hugh %rant crossing the bridge north to

south during the morning rush hour, in the +66+ 7m bout a Boy. "n Saturday 11

Euy +66 an ?nniversary &ayre? of activities invoving the Livery Com)anies and

the %uidabe $anor and aso hosting a ?shee) drive?, took )ace to commemorate

the 66th nniversary of the Coechurch Bridge?s com)etion.314 'n vauts beow th

e southern abutment of the bridge is ?The London Bridge /5)erience?.

London Bridge with the %herkin in the background


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+.Trans)ort

The nearest London Nnderground stations are $onument and London Bridge. They are res)ectivey at the northern and southern ends of the bridge. The London

Bridge @ationa Rai station is aso nearby.

-.Concusion

s a concusion ' can say that the London Bridge re)resents the heart of

London.'t is the furthest )oint downstream at which a bridge coud be buit over the

Thames. 'n my o)inion the bridge has a great history and re)resents a trave )unst.

' think that what the /ngish )eo)e do and how they advertise this bridge is

a great way to attract )eo)e to /ngand. "ny the idea that it is one of the modern

wonders makes you want to go and visit it. ' for one ho)e that someday ' woud be

abe to go and admire the grand and im)osing bridge, and Just have a moment ofsience for what those )eo)e done


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8.References

1.Eackson, !eter, London Bridge =isua History, Historica !ubications,

revised edition, +66+, +. $urray, !eter Stevens, $ary nne, Living Bridges U

The inhabited bridge,

)ast, )resent and future, Roya cademy of rts, London, 1;,

-. !ierce, !atricia, "d London Bridge The Story of the Longest 'nhabited Bridge

in /uro)e, Headine Books, +661 A. Kee, bert, London Bridge U

!rogress 2rawings, no )ubisher, 1*A

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