The Hungerford Bridge crosses the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
in London, and lies between
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...
and
Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side.
The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the H ...
. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
railway bridge flanked by two more recent, cable-stayed, pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's foundation piers, and which are named the Golden Jubilee Bridges.
The north end of the bridge is
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...
, and is near
Embankment Pier
Embankment Pier is a pier on the River Thames in City of Westminster, London. It is located on the north bank of the river, immediately next to the Hungerford Bridge and directly outside the river entrance to Embankment Underground station. It ...
and the
Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...
. The south end is near
Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...
,
County Hall, the
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...
, and the
London Eye
The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United ...
. Each pedestrian bridge has steps and
lift
Lift or LIFT may refer to:
Physical devices
* Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods
** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop
** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...
access.
History
![Hungerford Suspension Bridge (1845)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Hungerford_Suspension_Bridge_%281845%29.jpg)
The first Hungerford Bridge, designed by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
, opened in 1845 as a
suspension footbridge. It was named after the then
Hungerford Market
Hungerford Market was a produce market in London, at Charing Cross on the Strand. It existed in two different buildings on the same site, the first built in 1682, the second in 1832. The market was first built on the site of Hungerford House ...
, because it went from the South Bank, specifically a northern point of Lambeth, soon close to
London Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a London station group, central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo, London, Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connecte ...
to that place on the north side of the Thames, specifically to the market (later Charing Cross Station) about 200 yards or metres east of
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
partly in the parish of
Saint Martin in the Fields, Westminster, the spire of which can be seen from the bridge.
In 1859 the original bridge was bought by the railway company extending the
South Eastern Railway into the newly opened
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...
. The railway company replaced the suspension bridge with a structure designed by Sir
John Hawkshaw
Sir John Hawkshaw FRS FRSE FRSA MICE (9 April 1811 – 2 June 1891), was an English civil engineer. He served as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1862-63. His most noteworthy work is the Severn Tunnel.
Early life
He was born ...
, comprising nine spans made of
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
lattice girders, which opened in 1864.
The chains from the old bridge were re-used in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
's
Clifton Suspension Bridge
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge, the income from which provides fun ...
. The original brick pile buttresses of Brunel's footbridge are still in use, though the one on the Charing Cross side is now much closer to the river bank than it was originally, due to the building of the
Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...
, completed in 1870. The buttress on the South Bank side still has the entrances and steps from the original steamer pier Brunel built on to the footbridge.
![Charing Cross Bridge, Monet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Charing_Cross_Bridge%2C_Monet.jpg)
To compensate for the removal of the footbridge, walkways were added on each side, with the western one later being removed when the railway was widened. Another walkway was temporarily added in 1951 when an Army
Bailey bridge
A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...
was constructed for the
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
...
. In 1980 a temporary walkway was erected on the western side while the eastern railway bridge and walkway were refurbished. It is one of three bridges in London to carry pedestrians and rolling stock; the others being
Fulham Railway Bridge
Fulham Railway Bridge crosses the River Thames in London. It is very close to Putney Bridge, and carries the London Underground District line between Putney Bridge station on the North, and East Putney station on the South. Fulham Railway Brid ...
and
Barnes Bridge
Barnes Bridge railway station, in Travelcard Zone 3, is on The Terrace, Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. It is on the Houn ...
.
The footbridge gained a reputation for being narrow, dilapidated and dangerous; it was the scene of a murder in 1999. In the mid-1990s a decision was made to replace the footbridge with new structures on either side of the existing railway bridge, and a competition was held in 1996 for a new design.
Further justification for new footbridge structures on the west flank and east flank was that the brittle
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
support pillars of Sir John Hawkshaw's railway bridge were vulnerable to impact from riverboats.
It was felt, especially following the
Marchioness disaster
The ''Marchioness'' disaster was a collision between two vessels on the River Thames in London in the early hours of 20 August 1989, which resulted in the deaths of 51 people. The pleasure steamer ''Marchioness'' sank after being hit twice by ...
, that these should be clad in concrete at water level; but the bridge's owners,
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
, could not afford the work. The Golden Jubilee Bridges achieved this protection at no cost to Railtrack.
The new footbridges
The concept design for the new footbridges was won by architects
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is a practice of architects, urban designers and masterplanners established in 1986 and practising out of London.
History
Alex Lifschutz and Ian Davidson met working on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters ...
and engineers
WSP Group
WSP Global Inc. is a Canadian company with American and British roots, providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. After the purchase of New York-headquartered ...
.
Detailed design of the two bridges was carried out by consulting engineers
Gifford, now Ramboll UK. The steelwork for the new footbridges was fabricated by
Butterley Engineering Ltd.
Butterley is a village in the English county of Derbyshire near to Ripley. It is the site of the Midland Railway – Butterley, as well as the old Butterley Brickworks.
Notable residents
*Sir James Outram, hero of the Indian Mutiny, was born ...
of Ripley, Derbyshire.
Their construction was complicated by the need to keep the railway bridge operating without interruptions, the
Bakerloo line
The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...
tunnels passing only a few feet under the river bed, and the potential danger of unexploded
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
bombs in the Thames mud.
Despite extensive surveys of the riverbed,
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
was unwilling to accept these risks and preliminary works were stopped in 2000.
The design was modified so that the support structure on the north side, which would have been within of the tube lines, was moved out of the river bed and onto Victoria Embankment. Excavation near the tube lines was carried out when the tube was closed, and foundations were hand-dug for additional security.
The two new wide footbridges were completed in 2002. They were named the Golden Jubilee Bridges, in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of
Queen Elizabeth II's accession, although in practice they are often still referred to as the "Hungerford Footbridges".
![Hungerford Bridge from London Eye](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Hungerford_Bridge_from_London_Eye.jpg)
The long decks were raised using an innovative method called ''incremental launching'', in which each long section was pulled across the river using a long steel truss weighing 300
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s. This process was repeated five times until each deck spanned the river, supported by six temporary piers made of steel and concrete. The seven 25-tonne
pylons were then raised over the subsequent two weeks. Once the pylons had been installed, the decks were jacked up to enable their connection with the cable stays suspended from the pylons. The concrete deck was then lowered into its final position and the temporary piers and supports were dismantled.
The design of the bridges is complex. Each of the two decks is supported by inclined outward-leaning pylons. The decks are suspended from fans of slender steel rods called deck stays—there are 180 on each deck, made up of over of cable—and are held in position by other rods called backstays. Because the pylons lean the back stays are under tension. The deck is secured in place by steel collars fitted around (although not supported by) the pillars of the railway bridge; the collars are themselves attached to the bridge's foundations by tie-down rods. The entire structure is thus held in place by exploiting the tensions between the pylons and the various stay rods and struts.
![Hungerford Bridge 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Hungerford_Bridge_2.jpg)
The new bridges won the Specialist category in the
Royal Fine Art Commission
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for C ...
Building of the Year Award in 2003. It gained a Structural Achievement Award commendation in the 2004
Institution of Structural Engineers
The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom.
The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...
awards, and has won awards from the
Civic Trust and for its lighting design.
In 2014, the planning application for the now cancelled
Garden Bridge
The Garden Bridge project was an unsuccessful private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Originally an idea of Joanna Lumley, and strongly supported by then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the designer Tho ...
, revealed in its assessment of pedestrian movement across the Thames that the footbridges are the busiest in London, with an estimated footfall of 8.5 million each year.
In fiction
* "Hungerford Bridge" by
Elizabeth Hand
Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer.
Life and career
Hand grew up in Yonkers and Pound Ridge, New York. She studied drama and anthropology at The Catholic University of America. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal Maine ...
, Conjunctions 52, 2009.
* "The Woman Who Fell In Love With The Hungerford Bridge" by
Lavie Tidhar
Lavie Tidhar ( he, לביא תדהר; born 16 November 1976) is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Tid ...
, Ambit 2014.
See also
*
List of crossings of the River Thames
The River Thames is the second-longest river in the United Kingdom, passes through the capital city, and has many crossings.
Counting every channel – such as by its islands linked to only one bank – it is crossed by over 300 brid ...
*
List of bridges in London
List of bridges in London lists the major bridges within Greater London or within the influence of London. Most of these are river crossings, and the best-known are those across the River Thames. Several bridges on other rivers have given thei ...
*
Charing Cross Bridge (Monet series)
''Charing Cross Bridge'' is a series of oil paintings by French artist Claude Monet. The paintings depict a misty, impressionist Charing Cross Bridge in London, England. Monet worked on the series from 1899 to 1905, creating a total of 37 paint ...
References
External links
Survey of London entryGolden Jubilee Footbridges* Hungerford Bridge (1845) had a span of
Bridgemeister*
*
Hungerford Bridge GraveyardImágenes y descripción del puente de Hungerford en PUENTEMANÍA(Español)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungerford Bridge And Golden Jubilee Bridges
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
Railway bridges in London
Cable-stayed bridges in England
Transport in the City of Westminster
Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth
Bridges completed in 1845
Bridges completed in 1864
Bridges completed in 2002
Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom
Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Lambeth
Pedestrian bridges across the River Thames
Bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Southbank Centre
2002 establishments in England
1845 establishments in England
1864 establishments in England
Pedestrian bridges in London
Bridge light displays