Runnymede Bridge is a motorway, A-road, pedestrian, and cycle bridge, built in the 1960s and 1980s and expanded in the 2000s, carrying the M25 and A30 across 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 ...

near the uppermost end of the

Staines upon Thames Staines-upon-Thames is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town was transferred ...

and

Egham Egham ( ) is a university town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna ...

reach of the river. It is oriented north–south and is southwest of

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. It consists of Runnymede Bridge and New Runnymede Bridge; commonly referred to as one bridge. It is one of three bridges which carry motorways across the Thames, the others being the

M3 Chertsey Bridge The M3 Chertsey Bridge is a motorway bridge in England built in the 1970s. Purpose The bridge carries a minimum of medium-distance traffic along the M3 motorway between its first and second junctions across the River Thames at its north–south ...

and the

M4 Thames Bridge, Maidenhead The M4 Thames Bridge Maidenhead is a motorway bridge between Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire and Bray near Maidenhead, Berkshire in England built in the 1960s. The bridge carries the M4 Motorway across the River Thames, on the reach above Bov ...

. (The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing is not classified as part of the M25.)

History

Runnymede Bridge

Runnymede Bridge is a multi-span

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

at the uppermost end of the

and

Reach of the

: above

Penton Hook Lock Penton Hook Lock is the sixth lowest lock of forty four on the non-tidal reaches of the River Thames in England. It faces an island which was until its construction a pronounced meander (a hook) and is on the site of its seasonal cutoff. It ...

and below

Bell Weir Lock Bell Weir Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England by the right bank, Runnymede which is a water meadow associated with Egham of importance for the constitutional Magna Carta. It is upstream of the terrace of a hotel and the a bridge d ...

. It opened in 1961 to carry the A30's Staines Bypass. Designs for the bridge were completed by 1939 by Sir

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memor ...

in concert with consulting engineer H Fitzsimons.

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

intervened, delaying construction by 20 years; Lutyens having died in 1944, his colleague George Stewart served as consulting architect, adopting the 1939 design. The bridge has a single span of across the Thames with 18 encased steel arches bearing the load of a concrete deck. There are two smaller spans, on land, at the abutments, taking the total length to . As built, it had a width of . The architectural treatment of the bridge was considered of great importance because of its proximity to

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...

(the

water-meadow A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water- ...

) and the structure is finished with hand-made brick facings, white cement and Portland stone. Until the 2013 reconstruction of

Walton Bridge Walton Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, carrying the A244 between Walton-on-Thames and Shepperton, crossing the Thames on the reach between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock. The bridge is the first Thames road br ...

, this was the first single-span bridge (i.e. without piers) over the Thames upstream, there being none in London or the estuary.

New Runnymede Bridge

New Runnymede Bridge, forming its eastern half, was designed by

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation that offers engineering, design, planning, project management, an ...

and

Joanna Kennedy Dr Joanna Kennedy OBE FREng FICE, (born 22 July 1950), is a British civil engineer and project manager. She is currently a non-executive director of the property company Native Land and a director of the ERA Foundation, having been Global Leader ...

and built in 1978 to complement the earlier western half of the crossing, also simply named Runnymede Bridge.OS Map with Listed Structures nearby (not including the bridge as it is not listed) and official names marked
It is a single

of approximately the same form, but is made up of a series of parallel concrete frames: these allow light to penetrate upwards underneath and transfer loads vertically to avoid disturbing the foundations of the westerly bridge companion. In the first decade of the 21st century, the motorway bridge was widened to five lanes each way, becoming the widest in Britain. In addition, the A30 has two lanes each way, making a total of fourteen traffic lanes, and also has a pedestrian pavement on its eastern side.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References {{DEFAULTSORT:M025 Runnymede Bridge Bridges across the River Thames Bridges in Surrey

History

Runnymede Bridge

New Runnymede Bridge

See also

Notes and references