Albert Bridge

Albert Bridge is a Grade II listed road bridge over the River Thames in West London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank.

Albert Bridge

Crosses                           River Thames

Locale                             Chelsea, London

Piers in water                 6 (4 before 1973)

Total length                    710 feet (220 m)

Width                             41 feet (12 m)

Height                            66 feet (20 m)

Longest span                  384 feet 9 inches (117.3 m) (before 1973), 185 feet (56 m) (after 1973)

Number of spans            4 (3 before 1973)

Opening date                 23 August 1873

Designed and built by Rowland Mason Ordish in 1873 as an Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle modified cable-stayed bridge, it proved to be structurally unsound, and so between 1884 and 1887 Sir Joseph Bazalgette incorporated some of the design elements of a suspension bridge. The Greater London Council carried out further strengthening work in 1973 by adding two concrete piers, which transformed the central span into a simple beam bridge. As a result of these modifications the bridge today is an unusual hybrid of three different design styles.

Built as a toll bridge, it was commercially unsuccessful; six years after its opening it was taken into public ownership and the tolls were lifted. The tollbooths remained in place however, and are the only surviving examples of bridge tollbooths in London. Nicknamed "The Trembling Lady" because of its tendency to vibrate when large numbers of people walked over it, signs at the entrances warn troops from the nearby Chelsea Barracks to break step while crossing the bridge.