Bridges No.22 - Hammersmith Bridge

The current bridge at Hammersmith is the second at this point, and interestingly the same type of bridge has been used on both occassion: a suspension bridge. Like other London bridges, Hammersmith Bridge came about following the passing of an Act of Parliament. This occured in 1824 and work quickly began the following year. The first bridge was designed by William Tierney Clarke and was the first suspension bridge built across the Thames in London. He also designed Marlow Bridge ,which I'll be passing later in my walk, and is probably one of the finest bridges on the middle reaches of the Thames. Hammersmith Bridge opened in 1827 and consisted of two brick piers above which stood two towers providing arched entrances onto the bridge. Eight chains were string from the towers for the timber roadway to hang from.

Echoing the fate of Albert Bridge, the increasing weight of traffic on Hammersmith Bridge was causing problems. By 1870 the prospect of 11-12,000 people standing on the bridge to watch the Boat Race was considered a little risky. In 1884 a temporary bridge was built while work on a replacement got underway.

Sir Joseph Bazalgette again came to the rescue with a design that retained the suspension bridge style which must surely have been a now well recognised landmark on this part of the river. The new bridge opened in 1887. The towers on Bazalgette's bridge are made from wrought iron with cross beams to form the illusion of arches.

The bridge has in recent years had to be strengthened and following an IRA terrorist bomb attack in 2000 has been subject to a 7.5 tonne weight restriction. The bridge had also been targeted in 1996 but that bomb had failed to detonate. The 2000 bombing however was strong enough to rip through some of the bridge's girders as the photo opposite shows.