Top Ten London Bridges

top ten London bridges

For a more complete list, see the main list

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architect	Horace Jones
location	over the Thames, east of the city
date	1886 to 1894
style	Tudorbethan
construction	masonry and steel
type	openable bascule Bridge

Tower Bridge is a bascule bridge in London, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name. It is sometimes mistakenly called London Bridge, which is the next bridge upstream. The bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the Corporation of London.

Millenium Footbridge

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architect	Arup Associates, Norman Foster and Sir Anthony Caro
location	crossing the River Thames in London, England, between the existing Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, linking Bankside with the City
date	2000
style	High-Tech Modern
construction	steel
type	Bridge

The London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England, between the existing Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, linking Bankside with the City. It was the first new bridge across the Thames in London since Tower Bridge in 1894 and it is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the Corporation of London.

The south end of the bridge is near Globe Theatre, the Bankside Gallery and Tate Modern, the north end next to the City of London School below St Paul's Cathedral. The bridge alignment is such that a clear view of St Paul's south facade is presented from across the river, framed by the bridge supports, thus providing one of London's most photogenic views of the cathedral.

London Bridge

architect	Mott, Hay and Anderson
location	over the Thames, London (between the City of London and Southwark).
date	1973
style	Structuralist
construction	prestressed concrete box girder bridge Longest span 104 m (340 ft) Total length 262 m (860 ft) Width 32 m (107 ft) Clearance below 8.9 m (29 ft)
type	Bridge

London Bridge is a bridge in London, England over the River Thames, between the City of London and Southwark. It is between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge; it also forms the western end of the Pool of London. London's original bridge made this one of the most famous bridge emplacements in the world. It was the only bridge over the Thames in London until Westminster Bridge was opened in 1750.

Westminster Bridge

architect	Charles Barry (the architect of the Palace of Westminster)
location	over the Thames, London (between Westminster and Lambeth).
date	1862
style	gothic detailing
construction	seven-arch wrought iron bridge
type	Bridge

Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster and Lambeth, in London, England. The first Westminster Bridge was a stone bridge that opened in 1750. It was the second bridge to be built across the Thames in the then built-up area of London, breaking the monopoly of the ancient London Bridge, and it thus played a major role in the opening up of South London to development. By the mid 19th century it was subsiding badly and expensive to maintain.

Lambeth Bridge

architect	Sir George Humphreys and architect Sir Reginald Blomfield
location	over the Thames, London
date	1932
style	Art Deco detailing
construction	five-span steel arch
type	Bridge

Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic and footbridge crossing the River Thames in an east-west direction in central London; the river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge is Westminster Bridge; upstream the next is Vauxhall Bridge.

The most conspicuous colour in the bridge's current paint scheme is red, the same colour as the leather benches in the House of Lords which is at the southern end of the Palace of Westminster nearest the bridge. This is in contrast to Westminster Bridge which is predominantly green, the same colour as the benches in the House of Commons at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament.

Vauxhall Bridge

architect	Sir Alexander Binnie
location	over the Thames, London. On the north bank is Westminster, with Tate Britain and the Millbank Tower to the north-east, and Pimlico and its tube station to the north and east.
date	1906
style	Edwardian
construction	80ft wide by 809ft long, has five steel arches mounted on granite piers, with a series of bronze female figures on the bridge abutments commemorating the arts and sciences.
type	Bridge

Vauxhall Bridge is a steel arched bridge for road and foot traffic, crossing the River Thames in a north-west south-east orientation, between Lambeth Bridge and Grosvenor Bridge, in central London.

Southwark Bridge

architect	Basil Mott, CB Engineer, Sir Ernest George RA Architect
location	over the Thames, London (linking Southwark and the City).
date	1921
style	Edwardian
construction	cast iron
type	Bridge

Southwark Bridge is an arch bridge for traffic linking Southwark and the City across the River Thames, in London, England. It was designed by Ernest George and Basil Mott and opened in 1921. The bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the Corporation of London.

A previous bridge on the site, designed by John Rennie, opened in 1819. This was known as the "Iron Bridge" in comparison to London Bridge the "Stone Bridge". It is frequently referenced by Charles Dickens, for example in Little Dorritt and Our Mutual Friend.
The bridge is sometimes nicknamed the "car park bridge" as coach drivers use it to park their vehicles.
Below the bridge on the South side are some old steps, which were once used by Thames watermen as a place to moor their boats and wait for customers. Southwark Bridge was built into the steps.

Blackfriars Railway Bridge

architect	John Wolfe-Barry and Henri Marc Brunel
location	over the Thames, London
date	1886
style	Victorian Industrial
construction	wrought iron
type	Bridge

Blackfriars Railway Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.

There have been two structures with the name. The first bridge was opened in 1864 and was designed by Joseph Cubitt for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Massive abutments at each end carried the railway's insignia, preserved and splendidly restored on the south side. Following the formation of the Southern Railway in 1924, inter-city and continental services were concentrated on Waterloo, and St Paul's Station became a local and suburban stop. For this reason, the use of the original bridge gradually declined. It eventually became too weak to support modern trains, and was therefore removed in 1985 - all that remains is a series of columns crossing the Thames.

Blackfriars Bridge

architect	Joseph Cubitt (stone carvings of water birds by sculptor John Birnie Philip).
location	over the Thames, London (near the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower).
date	1869, widened between 1907–10
style	Romanesque Revival details
construction	five wrought iron arches
type	Bridge

Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge carrying the A201 road The north end is near the Inns of Court, and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station. The south end is near the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower.

Waterloo Bridge

architect	Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
location	over the Thames, London. Thanks to its location at a strategic bend in the river, the views of London (Westminster, the South Bank and London Eye to the west, the City of London and Canary Wharf to the east) from the bridge are widely held to be the finest from any spot at ground level.
date	1945
style	Structuralist
construction	concrete
type	Bridge

Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Hungerford Bridge

architect	original Isambard Kingdom Brunel, new Sir John Hawkshaw. Footbridge by architects Lifschutz Davidson and engineers WSP Group.
location	over the Thames, London near Waterloo station, County Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and the London Eye
date	1859
style	Victorian Industrial
construction	steel truss railway bridge flanked by two cable-stayed pedestrian bridges
type	Bridge

The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. It is a steel truss railway bridge — sometimes known as the Charing Cross Bridge — flanked by two cable-stayed pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's foundation piers, and which are properly named the Golden Jubilee Bridges.

The south end of the bridge is near Waterloo station, County Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and the London Eye. The north end is near Embankment tube station, Charing Cross railway station and the Victoria Embankment.

Albert Bridge

architect	Rowland Mason Ordish
location	over the Thames, London
date	1870
style	Victorian Industrial
construction	rigid suspension bridge with a length of 710 feet, width of 41 feet and a centre span of 400 feet. Its construction cost about £90,000.
type	Bridge

The Albert Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea in London, England, named in memory of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Consort to Queen Victoria.

Hammersmith Bridge

architect	Sir Joseph Bazalgette
location	over the Thames, London (just south of the Hammersmith town centre area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the north side of the river).
date	1887
style	Victorian Industrial
construction	The current suspension bridge rests on the same pier foundations constructed for the previous structure. With much of the supporting structure built of wrought iron, it is 700ft long and 43ft wide and cost £82,117 to build.
type	Bridge

Hammersmith Bridge is a crossing of the River Thames in west London, just south of the Hammersmith town centre area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the north side of the river. It allows road traffic and pedestrians to cross to Barnes (in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames) on the south side of the river. The current bridge is the second permanent bridge on the site.

London Bridges