Chelsea Bridge

Chelsea Bridge
Coordinates	51°29′5″N 0°9′0″W / 51.48472°N 0.15000°W / 51.48472; -0.15000
Carries	A3216 road
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Battersea and Chelsea, London
Maintained by	Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council
Heritage status	Grade II listed structure
Preceded by	Albert Bridge
Followed by	Grosvenor Railway Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Self-anchored suspension bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	698 feet (213 m)
Width	64 feet (20 m)
Height	69 feet 2 inches (21.08 m)
Longest span	332 feet (101 m)
No. of spans	3
Piers in water	2
Clearance below	42 feet 9 inches (13.03 m) at lowest astronomical tide[1]
History
Designer	G. Topham Forrest and E. P. Wheeler
Opened	6 May 1937; 87 years ago (1937-05-06)
Replaces	Victoria Bridge (1858–1935), also known as Old Chelsea Bridge
Statistics
Daily traffic	29,375 vehicles (2004)[2]
Location

Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank, and split between the City of Westminster, the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. There have been two Chelsea Bridges, on the site of what was an ancient ford.

The first Chelsea Bridge was proposed in the 1840s as part of a major development of marshlands on the south bank of the Thames into the new Battersea Park. It was a suspension bridge intended to provide convenient access from the densely populated north bank to the new park. Although built and operated by the government, tolls were charged initially in an effort to recoup the cost of the bridge. Work on the nearby Chelsea Embankment delayed construction and so the bridge, initially called Victoria Bridge, did not open until 1858. Although well-received architecturally, as a toll bridge it was unpopular with the public, and Parliament felt obliged to make it toll-free on Sundays. The bridge was less of a commercial success than had been anticipated, partly because of competition from the newly built Albert Bridge nearby. It was acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1877, and the tolls were abolished in 1879.

The bridge was narrow and structurally unsound, leading the authorities to rename it Chelsea Bridge to avoid the royal family's association with a potential collapse. In 1926 it was proposed that the old bridge be rebuilt or replaced, due to the increased volume of users from population growth, and the introduction of the automobile. It was demolished during 1934–1937, and replaced by the current structure, which opened in 1937.

The new bridge was the first self-anchored suspension bridge in Britain, and was built entirely with materials sourced from within the British Empire. During the early 1950s it became popular with motorcyclists, who staged regular races across the bridge. One such meeting in 1970 erupted into violence, resulting in the death of one man and the imprisonment of 20 others. Chelsea Bridge is floodlit from below during the hours of darkness, when the towers and cables are illuminated by 936 feet (285 m) of light-emitting diodes. In 2008 it achieved Grade II listed status.^[3] In 2004 a footbridge was opened beneath the southern span, carrying the Thames Path under the bridge.