Waterloo Bridge, London

1817. The opening on the 18th June.

1817. The opening on the 18th June.

1840.

1925. The Old and temporary Bridges.

1934.

1935. Demolition.

1935.

1938. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, Consulting Engineers. Peter Lind and Co, Contractors.

1939.

1939. Pier No. 1.

1940.

The first bridge on the site was designed in 1809-10 by John Rennie (the elder) for the Strand Bridge Co and opened in 1817 as a toll bridge. The granite bridge had nine arches, each of 120 feet span, separated by double Grecian-Doric stone columns and was 2,456 feet long, including approaches. Before its opening it was known as "Strand Bridge", but then was named after the battle of Waterloo.

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"Waterloo Bridge was built in the early years of the last century, and was opened in 1817. The engineer responsible for its design and construction was John Rennie, and a drawing signed by him is still in the possession of the Council. Examination of old drawings shows that the foundation of each pier and of the abutments consists of timber piles about 20ft. long, driven in rows. Each row is capped by a whole timber sill or sill piece, across which further whole timber sills are laid, forming a gridwork of timber about 2ft. deep above the piles, the interstices being packed with stone. The gridwork is covered by a decking of timber about. 6in. thick, upon which the masonry of the piers rests and was built..." [more].

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The bridge was nationalised in 1878 and given to the Metropolitan Board of Works, who removed the toll from it.

From 1884 serious problems were found in Rennie's bridge piers, after scour from the increased river flow after Old London Bridge was demolished damaged their foundations.

By the 1920s the problems had increased, with settlement at pier five necessitating closure of the whole bridge while some heavy superstructure was removed and temporary reinforcements put in place.

London County Council decided to demolish the bridge and replace it with a new structure designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The engineers were Ernest Buckton and John Cueral of Rendel, Palmer and Tritton.

1924 A temporary wooden would take the place of the old bridge during the period of reconstruction.

1935 Description of demolition work

The new crossing was partially opened in 1942 and completed in 1945.

See Also

• Arthur Molyneux Sillar
• Bridges in London
• Charing Cross Bridge
• Chepstow Bridge
• Edward Banks
• Engineering 1892 Jan-Jun: Index: Illustrations
• Engineering 1944 Jul-Dec: Index: Paragraphs
• Herman Peter Thygesen Lind
• John Plews
• John Rennie (1761-1821)
• John Sigismund Wilson
• Joseph Bazalgette
• Leaders of Modern Industry by G. Barnett Smith: The Rennies
• London Bridge
• Rendel, Palmer and Tritton
• The Engineer 1862/09/19
• The Engineer 1866/05/04
• The Engineer 1866/10/19
• The Engineer 1878/05/31
• The Engineer 1878/06/21
• The Engineer 1883/05/11
• The Engineer 1924/04/04
• The Engineer 1924/04/11
• The Engineer 1924/05/09
• The Engineer 1924/05/16
• The Engineer 1924/09/12
• The Engineer 1924/10/31
• The Engineer 1924/12/12
• The Engineer 1925/11/13
• The Engineer 1925/12/18
• The Engineer 1926/01/01
• The Engineer 1926/04/02
• The Engineer 1926/04/30
• The Engineer 1934 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1935 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1936 Jan-Jun: Index
• The Engineer 1937 Jan-Jun: Index
• The Engineer 1937 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1938 Jan-Jun: Index
• The Engineer 1938 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1939 Jan-Jun: Index
• The Engineer 1939 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1940 Jan-Jun: Index
• The Engineer 1942 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1943 Jan-Jun: Index
• The Engineer 1943 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1944 Jul-Dec: Index
• The Engineer 1945 Jul-Dec: Index
• Thomas Dawson Ridley
• Thomas Page (1803-1877)

Sources of Information

• Wikipedia