The Glorious Albert Bridge
By Sally Sellers
“One of the beauties of the London river.”
Albert Bridge, with its distinctive structure, colourful paintwork and myriad of lights, was so described in 1957 by the then Poet Laureate John Betjeman. He was involved in a public campaign to prevent the demolition of this famous London landmark first opened to traffic on August 23rd 1873. In 1972 the Battersea Society joined forces with the Albert Bridge campaign group to save the bridge again. They highlighted the aesthetic importance of the bridge now under threat of demolition and replacement with a much larger structure able to carry more commuter traffic. This campaigning led to a formal public enquiry supported by eminent structural engineers and architects, including Sir Hugh Casson, and the bridge remained.
Albert Bridge at night; photograph by Mike Rolls
Tollbooths but no tolls
In 1860 Prince Albert proposed a new bridge be built connecting Battersea with Chelsea. The wooden Battersea Bridge, opened in 1771, was by then dilapidated and considered unsafe, while Victoria (later Chelsea) Bridge, opened in 1858, was already suffering severe congestion. Established initially as a toll bridge by the Albert Bridge Company in fact it failed to make profits and in 1879 was taken over by the Metropolitan Board of Works and freed from tolls. However, the octagonal tollbooths were left in place, and today are the only surviving bridge tollbooths in London.
Innovative design
The design for the bridge was originally drawn up by engineer Rowland Mason Ordish who’d worked on the Albert Hall and St. Pancras Station. It was an innovative combination of a suspension bridge and a cable-stayed bridge, meaning that its chains fan out from the towers across the bridge (cable-stayed elements) and are supported by vertical hangers (suspension element). The ornate cast-iron towers rise from four cylindrical piers which were the largest ever cast and were manufactured at a metal works on the Battersea side of the river so that they could be transported into position by being floated down. In 1973, the bridge was strengthened further with the addition of two concrete piers underneath — so it became a beam bridge too.
The Trembling Lady
From the time of construction there were repeated concerns about the bridge’s strength. Sir Joseph Bazalgette replaced the original steel cables with steel link chains during the 1880’s and extensive strengthening and renovation works were needed in 1972/3 and 2010/11. Measures were taken to protect it from vibrations when large numbers walked across, in particular soldiers from the nearby Chelsea Barracks. This led to the nickname the Trembling Lady and the signs telling soldiers to break step when crossing. Although the barracks are now luxury apartments, the signs remain.
Lights and colour
For much of the twentieth century Albert Bridge was uniformly green but it is now much more colourfully decorated in pink, blue and green. This was not just to enhance its appearance but also to increase its visibility for ships in fog and murky light. The lights, which also served to prevent collisions, were originally added for the Festival of Britain in 1951 and now at night it is splendidly illuminated by 4,000 LEDs.
Illuminated Albert Bridge; photograph by Ian Wylie