Hammersmith Bridge

Origins A group of local people proposed a new bridge at Hammersmith rather than detouring to either Kew Bridge or Putney Bridge to cross the river. The construction of the bridge was first sanctioned by an act of Parliament, the '''''' (5 Geo. 4. c.cxii), on 9 June 1824, which established the Hammersmith Bridge Company. Work began on site the following year, and the bridge was opened on 6 October 1827. Construction of the bridge cost some £80,000 (equivalent to £ million in ). showing the then Hammersmith Bridge densely overloaded by 12,000 spectators watching the University Boat Race, circa 1870. By the 1870s, the bridge was no longer strong enough to support the weight of heavy traffic and the owners were alarmed in 1870 when 11,000 to 12,000 people crowded onto the bridge to watch the University Boat Race, A further act of Parliament, the '''''' (9 Geo. 4. c. lii) was obtained in 1828. The acts also included powers to acquire land by compulsory purchase in order to build approach roads, and required the company to purchase the entire Barn Elms estate (the surplus land was subsequently sold). From these, vertical rods were suspended, which supported the roadway, formed of strong timbers covered with granite. The width of the carriageway was , with two footways of . The chains passed over the suspension towers, and were secured to the piers on each shore. The suspension towers were built of stone, and designed as archways of the Tuscan order. The approaches were provided with octagonal lodges, or toll-houses, with appropriate lamps and parapet walls, terminating with stone pillars, surmounted with ornamental caps. To increase profits, the company built a floating steamboat pier to the downstream side of the suspension pier closest to Barnes. In 1884 a temporary bridge was put up to allow a more limited cross-river traffic while a replacement was constructed. The new bridge was built by Dixon, Appleby & Thorne and was opened on 11 June 1887 by the Duke of Clarence. With much of the supporting structure built of wrought iron, it is long and wide and cost £82,117 to build (equivalent to £ million in ). With the abolition of the Metropolitan Board of Works on 21 March 1889, ownership of Hammersmith Bridge passed to the new London County Council. Maurice Childs, a women's hairdresser from nearby Chiswick, was crossing the bridge at one o'clock in the morning when he saw a smouldering suitcase that was lying on the walkway. On 26 April 1996, the Provisional IRA attempted to destroy the bridge after installing two large Semtex bombs on the south bank of the Thames. Though the detonators were activated, the bomb, the largest Semtex bomb ever found in Britain at the time, File:Hammersmith Bridge 1, London, UK - April 2012.jpg|Hammersmith Bridge and riverside, seen from the Hammersmith bank File:hammersmith.bridge.arp.jpg|Hammersmith Bridge, seen from the Westminster to Kew tourist boat File:HORR 05.jpg|Rowing crews racing under Hammersmith Bridge File:Hammersmith Bridge, London 12.JPG|End details File:Hammersmith Bridge, London 08.JPG|Tower == Renewed structural problems ==

In February 1997, the bridge was closed to all traffic except buses, bicycles, motorcycles, emergency vehicles and pedestrians to allow further essential repair works. Structural elements of the bridge were corroded or worn, in particular cross girders and deck surfacing, as well as some areas of masonry. The bridge was declared a Grade II* listed structure in 2008, providing protection to preserve its special character from unsympathetic development. The bridge was again temporarily closed to traffic to allow repairs in early 2014. Further repairs and strengthening works were delayed in November 2016 in a wrangle over funding between Hammersmith and Fulham Council and Transport for London (TfL). LBHF leader Steven Cowan said: "There's no way that this council is going to spend anything like that money, the majority of this issue is the responsibility of TfL and we will work with them to make sure the bridge is fit for public purpose". 2019: Closure With funding for a major refurbishment still not resolved, on 10 April 2019, Hammersmith and Fulham Council closed the bridge indefinitely to motor traffic on safety grounds. Pedestrians and cyclists were allowed to use the bridge. On 10 October 2019, Planning in London magazine published the results of its competition for a quick fix to Hammersmith Bridge's closure. The winning entry, by marine civil engineers Beckett Rankine, consisted of a prefabricated temporary road and foot bridge downstream of Hammersmith bridge and connecting in to Queen Caroline Street on the Hammersmith side. Beckett Rankine claimed that the bridge's cost could be recouped by charging a toll on vehicles. On 13 August 2020, the structural issues worsened in a heatwave, and the bridge was closed to cyclists and pedestrians, completely shutting use of the bridge. The costs were reported as £141 million to fully repair the bridge and £46 million to stabilise it for use by cyclists and pedestrians. Neither the council nor the transportation authority had this money available. In November 2020, engineers proposed a temporary double-decked steel structure within the existing bridge to allow damaged elements to be removed for repair. The scheme, designed by Foster and Partners with bridge engineers COWI, was backed by the local council and presented to Shapps. The scheme, costed at around £100 million, would allow the bridge to reopen for pedestrians and cyclists in the summer of 2021, with cars and vans able to cross two months later, and full restoration by 2023. The proposals were discussed on 19 March 2021 at a government taskforce meeting, and plans for the work to be funded through a £3 toll scheme were accepted. In December 2020, reports suggested that the full closure was overly cautious, and that little work would be needed to reopen the bridge to pedestrians and cyclists. 2021: Partial reopening On 1 June 2021, TfL, Hammersmith and Fulham Council and central government came to a cost-sharing agreement that would reopen the bridge in the near future. The following month, council leader Stephen Cowan announced that the bridge would partially re-open to pedestrians and cyclists from 17 July 2021. For the first phase, a £6 million, 46-week stabilisation plan designed by consultants Mott MacDonald was approved by the council in August 2021. A second phase, involving extensive strengthening and full restoration, was to allow the bridge to reopen to motor vehicles. 2022: Repairs File:Hammersmith Bridge footings repair works.jpg|Repair works to the bridge footings File:Hammersmith Bridge footing cooled in heatwave.jpg|Footing foil-wrapped and cooled in heatwave, with sensors In February 2022, highways contractor FM Conway started work on a 10-month first phase of the restoration. The council approved the full £8.9 million cost, hoping that DfT and TfL would reimburse them for their one-third shares. Completion of this work was delayed a year as steel became hard to procure due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In October 2022, Hammersmith and Fulham Council agreed to lodge a planning application to temporarily double-deck the bridge to speed up its restoration. The council intended to appoint a private sector contractor to design, renovate, finance and maintain the bridge, with the council's construction and ongoing operation and maintenance costs funded by tolls. while construction was paused to allow the repair of a steel gantry damaged in a collision with a boat, MV Emerald of London, in December 2023. The last stage was to replace the mechanical bearings on the four corner pedestals of the bridge, after which the council would "review e-mobility options to shuttle residents across the bridge, notably the elderly or disabled". In January 2024, the cost of repairing the bridge had increased to £250 million (US$316 million). A day later, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that "I do want that bridge fit for purpose for vehicles" but neither Hammersmith & Fulham Council nor TfL had the money to make it so. TfL's 2024 Business Plan did not include funding for the bridge. 2025: Roadway reopened to pedestrians and cyclists After work on the hangers that link the bridge deck to its suspension chains, the roadway was resurfaced. Its deck is of plywood boards, bolted to timber supports; worn boards and some of the timbers were replaced, at a cost of £2.9 million. The bridge reopened to pedestrians and cyclists in April 2025, with the roadway divided into wide pedestrian and cycle lanes. Pedestrians can also use the two outer footways. File:Hammersmith Bridge 2024 reopened as cycleway.jpg|February 2024: worn roadway reopened as cycleway File:Hammersmith Bridge 2025 roadway opened to pedestrians and cyclists.jpg|April 2025: resurfaced roadway opened to pedestrians and cyclists == Heraldry ==

At both the Hammersmith and Barnes ends of the bridge, there is a heraldic composition made up of seven coats of arms. These were formerly painted in their "correct" heraldic colours but have now been painted in the standard colour scheme. In the centre is the royal coat of arms of Queen Victoria which is surrounded by six others, representing the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works, from top clockwise the coats of arms of the Borough of Guildford (representing the county of Surrey), the City of Westminster, the Borough of Colchester (representing the County of Essex), the County of Middlesex, the City of London, and the County of Kent. ==See also==