A view of bridges in the City of London, looking westwards (upstream): Tower Bridge to Westminster Bridge

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 their names to areas of London, particularly where the whole river has become subterranean. Other bridges are high level road or rail crossings across other streets.

River crossings

River Thames

Bridges over the River Thames, listed in order travelling from East to West. Multiple values in "Dates opened" pertain to earlier bridges at the site of the current structure.

Portrait Name Type Dates opened North Bank South Bank Maintained by
Tower Bridge Combination bascule / suspension 1894 Tower Hamlets Southwark Bridge House Estates
London Bridge Box girder 50 AD
1209
1831
1973		 City of London: Monument Southwark Bridge House Estates
Cannon Street Railway Bridge Beam 1866 City of London: Cannon Street Southwark Network Rail
Southwark Bridge Arch 1819
1921		 City of London: Queen Street Southwark: Bankside Bridge House Estates
Millennium Bridge Suspension 2000 City of London: Queenhithe Southwark: Bankside Bridge House Estates
Blackfriars Railway Bridge Arch 1864
1886		 City of London: Blackfriars Southwark Network Rail
Blackfriars Bridge Arch 1769
1869		 City of London: Blackfriars Southwark Bridge House Estates
Waterloo Bridge Box girder 1817
1945		 Westminster Lambeth: South Bank Transport for London
Hungerford Bridge Lattice truss 1864 Westminster Lambeth: South Bank Network Rail
Golden Jubilee Bridges Suspension 2002
Westminster Bridge Arch 1750
1862		 Westminster Lambeth: South Bank Transport for London
Lambeth Bridge Arch 1862
1932		 Westminster Lambeth Transport for London
Vauxhall Bridge Arch 1816
1906		 Westminster: Pimlico Lambeth: Vauxhall Transport for London
Grosvenor Bridge Arch 1859 Westminster Wandsworth Network Rail
Chelsea Bridge Suspension 1858
1937		 Kensington and Chelsea: Chelsea Wandsworth: Battersea Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council
Albert Bridge Combined Ordish–Lefeuvre / suspension / beam 1873 Kensington and Chelsea: Chelsea Wandsworth: Battersea Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council
Battersea Bridge Arch 1771
1890		 Kensington and Chelsea: Chelsea Wandsworth: Battersea Transport for London
Battersea Railway Bridge Arch 1863 Hammersmith and Fulham: Imperial Wharf Wandsworth: Clapham Junction Network Rail
Wandsworth Bridge Cantilever 1873
1938		 Hammersmith and Fulham: Fulham Wandsworth: Wandsworth Wandsworth London Borough Council
Fulham Railway Bridge and Footbridge Lattice girder 1889 Hammersmith and Fulham: Putney Bridge Wandsworth: East Putney Network Rail
Putney Bridge Arch 1729
1886		 Hammersmith and Fulham: Fulham Wandsworth: Putney Wandsworth London Borough Council
Hammersmith Bridge Suspension 1827
1887		 Hammersmith and Fulham: Hammersmith Richmond upon Thames: Castelnau Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council
Barnes Railway Bridge and Footbridge Truss arch 1849 Hounslow: Chiswick Richmond upon Thames: Barnes Network Rail
Chiswick Bridge Deck arch 1933 Hounslow: Chiswick Richmond upon Thames: Mortlake Transport for London
Kew Railway Bridge Lattice truss 1869 Hounslow: Gunnersbury Richmond upon Thames: Kew Gardens Network Rail
Kew Bridge Arch 1759
1789
1903		 Hounslow: Brentford Richmond upon Thames: Kew Transport for London
Richmond Lock and Footbridge Arch 1894 Richmond upon Thames: St Margarets Richmond upon Thames: Richmond Port of London Authority
Twickenham Bridge Arch 1933 Richmond upon Thames: St Margarets Richmond upon Thames: Richmond Transport for London
Richmond Railway Bridge Truss arch 1848 Richmond upon Thames: St Margarets Richmond upon Thames: Richmond Network Rail
Richmond Bridge Arch 1777 Richmond upon Thames: St Margarets Richmond upon Thames: Richmond Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council
Teddington Lock Footbridges Girder (Eastern)
Suspension (Western)		 1889 Richmond upon Thames: Teddington Richmond upon Thames: Ham Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council
Kingston Railway Bridge Arch 1863 Richmond upon Thames: Hampton Wick Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Network Rail
Kingston Bridge Arch 1190
1828		 Richmond upon Thames: Hampton Wick Kingston upon Thames: Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council
Hampton Court Bridge Arch 1753
1778
1865
1933		 Richmond upon Thames: Hampton Court Palace Surrey: East Molesey Surrey County Council

River Lea

Subterranean rivers

Canals and docks

Road and foot bridges

The Holborn Viaduct, 2005

Railway bridges

Illuminated River artwork

In 2016 an international competition was launched to design a public artwork in Central London across 15 bridges on the River Thames, from Tower Bridge to Albert Bridge, with a minimum lifespan of 10 years.[1][2][3][4][5] A design by American artist Leo Villareal in collaboration with British architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands was selected from 105 entries by an independent competition jury in November 2016. This will be one of the UK's largest ever public art commissions.[6][7]

The first phase - Southwark Bridge, Millennium Bridge, London Bridge and Cannon Street Bridge - was switched on in July 2019. The Illuminated River artwork was completed in April 2021 with the illumination of Blackfriars Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Golden Jubilee Footbridges, Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge.[8] The artwork employs LED light fittings, replacing less efficient forms of lighting in places.[9][10][11][12]

The installation’s colour scheme is in part influenced by famous paintings of the Thames, as noted by The Times: “The colours and tones used in the paintings of those inveterate Thames-watchers Monet, Whistler and Turner provide some of the inspiration, while at Westminster [bridge] a shade of green was chosen to complement the colour of the leather upholstery in the House of Commons”.[13] An article in The Guardian stated: "The project... has been much trickier and taken longer to realise than anticipated."[14] A three-part Channel 4 documentary, which started in July 2019,[15] covered the project up to the end of the first phase.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mayor of London announces winning team in competition to light up London's bridges". Illuminated River. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  2. ^ "First Phase of 'Illuminated River' Opens on the Thames River in London". Architectural Record. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Illuminated River: Final bridges light up for Thames artwork". BBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Illuminated River: Lighting up London's Bridges with skill and charm". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Leo Villareal: Illuminated River Launches Across Five More Thames Bridges". Pace Gallery. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Painting with light on London's River Thames". CNN. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. ^ Illuminated River to Light Up River Thames
  8. ^ "London's bridges lit up: Illuminated River project brings light to heart of capital". Express. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  9. ^ "The Thames Is Aglow! These 4 Central London Bridges Are Now Illuminated". Londonist. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Illuminated River: First London bridges lit up". BBC. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Thames Illuminated River scheme first phase complete". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Illuminated River". Illuminated River. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  13. ^ "The Thames is the light of my life — now it can be yours too". The Times. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  14. ^ "London bridges go LED as part of £45m longest artwork project". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  15. ^ "London's Great Bridges: Lighting the Thames". Channel 4. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  16. ^ "London's Great Bridges: Lighting the Thames". Illuminated River. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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